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Posted on 12/13/2025 2:57:15 AM PST by DFG
From a distance, it looks like a war plane imagined by Hayao Miyazaki, or the type of machine that could only exist in a science fiction novel.
But according to aviation enthusiasts who captured footage of it soaring in the California skies last week, it’s an experimental aircraft designed by Stratolaunch, an aerospace company located in the Mojave Desert. Chances are, residents in surrounding towns will see more of it, too.
Described as the world’s largest flying aircraft, Roc — which looks like two 747s fused together and has a wingspan larger than a football field — recently completed a series of test flights last year, where it reached an altitude of 35,000 feet. Named after a large bird of prey from Arabian folklore, the unique composite aircraft has six engines, a 385-foot wingspan, and a takeoff weight of 1.3 million pounds. According to Stratolaunch’s website, the legendary bird was so large, it could carry elephants and transport sailors to safety. Similarly, it appears that the 21st-century iteration is designed to carry another Stratolaunch aircraft, the fully autonomous Talon-A2, which is capable of reaching hypersonic speeds when released into the air — that’s five times the speed of sound.
Photos show the enormous plane taking off from the Mojave Air and Space Port at Rutan Field, an aerospace testing center in the high desert. First established in 1935 as a small, rural airport for silver and gold mining industries, by World War II, it became a gunnery training site for America’s “aces,” or most skilled fighter pilots. Today, it serves as a testing ground for more than 60 aerospace companies, its website says.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
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Interesting
But is it AI
If AI=Absolutely Insane, then yes...yes it is...
It makes no aerodynamic sense.
Definitely AI. P
Multiple pictures of it available, in the air, on the runway, outside the hangar...
It’s been being developed for some time
It’s a behemoth, but could one small flock of Canada Geese bring it all down?
It looks like a 2-ship in perfect formation, however permanent.
I don’t know.
Bumblebee.
“Bumblebee”? Please elaborate.
That center wing looks like it would snap with any kind of turblance.
If you had the 3D CAD models and some blueprints to study, it might explain things a little better than just a single 2D image.
Definitely not as attractive as the Twin Mustang.
That’s what it is.
Check it out. It’s like the new Spruce Goose for upper atmosphere travel. The two cockpits can be flown in tandem or one or the other.
The empty spot on the middle wing is intended to launch another airplane at high altitude to go to near-earth orbit or even low-earth orbit.
It’s a flying catamaran. Will it work? I don’t know. I do know that this has been in the works for almost two decades.
And I love it! This thing is slightly goofier looking than the Osprey, and those are flying.
It is bound to be heavily reinforced, you can see the hookup gear on there to attach the hypersonic Talon craft.
History has been made by Stratolaunch, a hypersonic flight test research company headquartered in Mojave, California. The fully autonomous Talon-A2, equipped with landing gear, has successfully exceeded speeds of Mach five and completed its second autonomous landing at Vandenburg Space Force Base. This mission documentary follows the first recovered flight of TA-2, the result of five years of effort and dedication marking a pivotal moment in sustainable hypersonic flight test for our country. Congratulations to the Stratolaunch team and partners on this success! Next steps: fly TA-2 again and again, increasing the cadence of hypersonic flight tests for the United States. Stay tuned as Stratolaunch prepares to fly and land TA-2 once more.
TA-2 First Recoverable Hypersonic Flight | 5:20
Stratolaunch | 17.7K subscribers | 57,220 views | May 7, 2025
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