The Silver Turtle
30-03-2004, 20:40
The Ineffable airforce, unsatisfied with having to rely on the navy and spacenavy to handle the various bombing tasks it has been assigned, has begun research into a hypersonic, long-range heavy bomber. The design is that of the Hypersoar, and if successful the technology could be applied to other aircraft, such as fighters.
The key to HyperSoar is the skipping motion of its flight along the edge of Earth's atmosphere - much like a rock skipped across water. A HyperSoar aircraft would ascend to approximately 130,000 feet - lofting outside the Earth's atmosphere - then turn off its engines and coast back to the surface of the atmosphere. There, it would again fire its air-breathing engines and skip back into space. The craft would repeat this process until it reached its destination.
HyperSoar could fly at approximately 6,700 mph (Mach 10), while carrying roughly twice the payload of subsonic aircraft of the same takeoff weight. As a military aircraft, a HyperSoar bomber could take off, deliver its payload with an effectiveness akin to that of ortillery. It could then return directly to the country of origin without refueling and without the need to land at forward bases on foreign soil.
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/aircraft/images/hypersoar-Carter1.gif
Diagram of the HyperSoar Flight Path
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/aircraft/images/hypersoar-Carter2.gif
Comparison of HyperSoar Bomber capabilities to others
The key to HyperSoar is the skipping motion of its flight along the edge of Earth's atmosphere - much like a rock skipped across water. A HyperSoar aircraft would ascend to approximately 130,000 feet - lofting outside the Earth's atmosphere - then turn off its engines and coast back to the surface of the atmosphere. There, it would again fire its air-breathing engines and skip back into space. The craft would repeat this process until it reached its destination.
HyperSoar could fly at approximately 6,700 mph (Mach 10), while carrying roughly twice the payload of subsonic aircraft of the same takeoff weight. As a military aircraft, a HyperSoar bomber could take off, deliver its payload with an effectiveness akin to that of ortillery. It could then return directly to the country of origin without refueling and without the need to land at forward bases on foreign soil.
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/aircraft/images/hypersoar-Carter1.gif
Diagram of the HyperSoar Flight Path
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/aircraft/images/hypersoar-Carter2.gif
Comparison of HyperSoar Bomber capabilities to others