Lockheed Martin SR-72
| Lockheed Martin SR-72 | |
|---|---|
| Type: | Unmanned hypersonic spy plane |
| Design country: | |
| Manufacturer: | |
| Number of pieces: |
so far none |
The Lockheed Martin SR-72 is a concept for an unmanned hypersonic aircraft designed to perform ISR operations at high altitudes at Mach 6 . It is developed by Lockheed Martin in the Skunk works as the successor to the famous SR-71 Blackbird .
The designation SR-72 is not an official type designation of the US Air Force .
description
After the SR-71 was finally retired in 1998 for financial reasons, a gap arose in the strategic US reconnaissance between the extensive number of subsonic aircraft on the one hand and surveillance satellites on the other. With the strong increase in drones as part of the “war on terror” , there initially appeared to be no need for a successor to the Blackbird. However, the proliferation of anti-satellite weapons and advances in radar technology to locate stealth aircraft (particularly in the context of China's rearmament) led to the concept of extremely high speeds being reverted to. The advantage of a Mach-6 machine that can maintain this speed over a longer period of time is that it can also penetrate into well-monitored and defended airspace, as the response time for the defender is extremely short. The first reports about the SR-72 were from 2007, with Lockheed Martin not officially presenting the concept for the SR-72 until November 1, 2013.
In order to achieve speeds of up to Mach 6, Lockheed Martin has been developing a suitable engine with the Aerojet Rocketdyne since 2006 . Previous Mach 6 projects have used ramjet engines , but they can only work from speeds of Mach 3 to 3.5. Therefore, appropriate prototypes such. B. the X-51 , can only be brought to the required speed with a launcher or a rocket booster . Since such a carrier system would be too expensive for operational use, the focus of the development of the SR-72 is on the fact that it can reach corresponding speeds on its own. Lockheed Martin uses the “turbine-based combined cycle” concept (TBCC) for this: The engine should have a variable air flow, so that it works like a turbojet at low speeds and like a ramjet at high speeds . The J58 engines of the SR-71 Blackbird already work on a similar principle.
Lockheed Martin stated that a possible demonstrator the size of modern fighter aircraft could be built by 2018 [obsolete] , which should reach Mach 6 for a few minutes in order to prove the basic functionality of the concept. A first prototype of the SR-72 could then be built by 2023 . Commissioning would be expected from 2030 at the earliest .
See also
Web links
- US armaments project: hypersonic drone is said to fly 2000 meters per second . Spiegel Online, 2013
- PICTURES: Skunk Works reveals Mach 6.0 SR-72 concept . Flight Global, 2013 (English)
- Exclusive: Skunk Works Reveals SR-71 Successor Plan ( memento from March 29, 2014 in the web archive archive.today ). Aviation Week (English)
- Lockheed skunkworks makes a pitch for the SR-72 . aviationintel.com, 2013 (English)
- Hypersonic study "SR-72" . Flugrevue, 2015