built it and it’s operational and they’re moving on to the next one.
..the info given / released to future foes & allies..USAF still has teeth, (for now)
If Lockheed is announcing this it means that they’ve already built it and it’s operational and they’re moving on to the next one.
“If Lockheed is announcing this it means that they’ve already built it and it’s operational and they’re moving on to the next one.”
Yup. Next gen has probably been built also. They must have the mach 6 plane in operation for the past 10 years.
“If Lockheed is announcing this it means that they’ve already built it and it’s operational and they’re moving on to the next one.”
I would not take that so.
I would suspect that instead they have conducted a series of test programs with concept vehicles, flying testbeds, and, technology demonstrators over many years that have given them a very good idea of just exactly how their proposed hypersonic airplane should appear. Think Have Blue, Tacit Blue, Bird of Prey, etc.
Lockheed, and the government, display a pretty clear pattern here. Once an airframe has been developed, built, deployed, and, has rendered good deal of operational info....then it’s revealed. Think U-2, SR-71, and, F-117. All of which were well into production (if not already out of) and had been operational for some time before their release to the public.
No, the airplane illustrated does not exist yet. If it did, was flying regularly, and, considered “mature” technology then we would have pictures of it. Real pics released by LockMart, the DOD, the U.S. Air Force, etc., proving it existed. We don’t have that. We also don’t have pics of the tech demonstrators they’ve used to amass the data necessary to conceive of the design. They are still classified probably because they could reveal too much of the testing, teething, and, progress that got them to the proposed design.