The Air Force Research Lab is studying how objects fly at hypersonic speeds at sea level, a capability that could eventually lead to new warhead technologies. “We already have things in place with people who are doing the warhead work, so it’s not something that we ‘hope’ to use someday, it is something that the warhead designers … have already given me problems to work on,” said Kirk Vanden, technical advisor for AFRL’s Munitions Directorate computational mechanics branch. The Vanden team’s work centers on examining penetrator warhead flows at speeds around Mach 6 and involves “an exciting new application of nontraditional hypersonic computational analysis,” said John Schmisseur, Air Force Office of Scientific Research program manager overseeing hypersonics grants. AFOSR is funding Vanden’s work.
Loved Ones Mourn 6 Airmen Killed in KC-135 Crash
March 16, 2026
Tributes to the six crew members that died in the KC-135 Stratotanker crash in Iraq have flooded social media since the Pentagon released their identities March 14. They were the first Airmen to die while supporting Operation Epic Fury against Iran.