SR-71 Successor Plan

[Traderd]

http://www.aviationweek.com/Article....632731.xml&p=1

Mach 6 with strike capability:

"Lockheed Martin?s Skunk Works has revealed exclusively to AW&ST details of long-running plans for what it describes as an affordable hypersonic intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) and strike platform that could enter development in demonstrator form as soon as 2018. Dubbed the SR-72, the twin-engine aircraft is designed for a Mach 6 cruise, around twice the speed of its forebear, and will have the optional capability to strike targets."

And of course, no pilots:

"The outline plan for the operational vehicle, the SR-72, is a twin-engine unmanned aircraft over 100 ft. long (see artist?s concept on page 20). ?It will be about the size of the SR-71 and have the same range, but have twice the speed,? he adds. The FRV would start in 2018 and fly in 2023. ?We would be ready to launch the SR-72 shortly after and could be in service by 2030.?

Interesting read on hypersonic flight with the integration of turbines and scramjets:

"Just as importantly, the Skunk Works design team developed a methodology for integrating a working, practical turbine-based combined cycle (TBCC) propulsion system. ?Before that, it was all cartoons,? Leland says. ?We actually developed a way of transforming it from a turbojet to a ramjet and back. We did a lot of tests to prove it out, including the first mode-transition demonstration.? The Skunk Works conducted subscale ground tests of the TBCC under the Facet program, which combined a small high-Mach turbojet with a dual-mode ramjet/scramjet, and the two sharing an axisymmetric inlet and nozzle."

 

[tomgoodman]

Very un-Skunky to announce such a program if there's a real RFP on the table. Sounds more like an attempt to drum up business.

 

[TheRaven]

Only 16 years after they parked the SR-71 and they have a plan to replace it....hmmm....if we've survived this long without it maybe we don't need that capability......unless it's replacing something we don't know about that has replaced the SR-71 for the last 16 years......Aurora.

 

[Traderd]

Very un-Skunky to announce such a program if there's a real RFP on the table. Sounds more like an attempt to drum up business.

Sounds that way to me as well. More like a bit of publicity around the technology they've been working on. Still, very interesting tech for sure.

Maybe a mach 6 drone is in our mass transportation future.

 

[nwaf16dude]

The SR-71 replacements are already flying, 24 hours a day, in orbit.

 

[dojetdriver]

Very un-Skunky to announce such a program if there's a real RFP on the table. Sounds more like an attempt to drum up business.

I got this elsewhere as well as remember reading it when it came out, notice the date when it was published;

http://www.popsci.com/file/mach62jpg

Maybe not out of the realm of possibility that much of the technology/RD has ALREADY happened in one form or another and isn't really that "skunky".

 

[tomgoodman]

I got this elsewhere as well as remember reading it when it came out, notice the date when it was published;

http://www.popsci.com/file/mach62jpg

Maybe not out of the realm of possibility that much of the technology/RD has ALREADY happened in one form or another and isn't really that "skunky".

Of course they've been working on such things for many years, and want everyone to know that they're "still in the game", with fine R&D capabilities and ideas. If and when the Government hands them a (classified) RFP for a real test article, however, the only sound you will hear from Lockheed is a loud clang, as the Cone of Skunk slams down.

 

[JimNtexas]

I wonder if this has anything to do with the not-so-black effort to buy a next generation long range bomber. That and the F-35 are the two things that the USAF is selling the family silverware to buy.

 

[Dizel8]

Moving satellites around in orbits are very costly, inasmuch as they run out of maneuvering fuel and eventually are either stuck in a "parked" orbit or the orbit decays to the point it gets pulled into the atmosphere.

I would imagine a geostationary orbit is to high for the highest quality pictures, I could be wrong, but in the past that was certainly the case.

Of course, one could ways launch new satellites. Not sure what would be more cost effective.

I would imagine SpaceX and OSC have brought the cost down considerably and I believe OSC has already launched for the military.

 

[flyboyike]

"Lockheed Martin?s Skunk Works has revealed exclusively to AW&ST details of long-running plans for what it describes as an affordable hypersonic intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) and strike platform...

I just bet.

 

[Russ]

The part that intrigues me is the propulsion. Another article about the SR-72 inferred that modified off the shelf engines will propel the aircraft. Love to see the technology that allows it. Doubt I will however.

 

[Huggyu2]

While developing something like this will create spinoff technolgies... there really is not much of a reconnaissance need for this. What exactly are you going to do at Mach 6?
Imagery, I suppose. The speed is pretty high to be able to loiter long enough to get good SIGINT.
And how are you going to send the imagery real time? You can't hang an antenna off the jet. However, I'm sure there is some way to do it.

But let's do the math:
Mach 6 is about 4000 knots.
If the aircraft turned using 30 degrees of bank, then:
The turn radius is 405 nautical miles
That means to do a 180 degree turn, the ground track is over 1200 miles. That's just the turn.
And that turn would take 19 minutes.

That's a lot of airspace you'll cover. Just to make a turn is going to potentially have you flying over other countries. Diplomatic clearances can be tough to get.

Also, what about fuel? Just the 180 degree turn and 19 minutes is going to eat up a ton of fuel. I know satellites are fuel limited,... but this SR-72 cannot carry that much fuel.
Think about what it will take to launch it, fly to the target, return and land... and you want to add in some turns?? That's crazy talk!

 

[lowtimedriver]

Very un-Skunky to announce such a program if there's a real RFP on the table.

The plane has probably been operational for the last ten years already.:nuts:

Anyone really believe that they would take the SR out of service without a replacement?

 

[booo]

I got this elsewhere as well as remember reading it when it came out, notice the date when it was published;

http://www.popsci.com/file/mach62jpg

Maybe not out of the realm of possibility that much of the technology/RD has ALREADY happened in one form or another and isn't really that "skunky".

Oh boy! more news from such a reliable such as Popular Science, the same source that said the A380 would be the first aircraft that could have a 1.3 BILLION pound take off weight!

Could they , like , haul New Jersey off in one piece?

 

[dojetdriver]

Oh boy! more news from such a reliable such as Popular Science, the same source that said the A380 would be the first aircraft that could have a 1.3 BILLION pound take off weight!

Could they , like , haul New Jersey off in one piece?

The main point was the AGE of the article, but whatever.....