The Arnold Engineering Development Center’s Tunnel 9 facility in White Oak, Md., recently completed the mission-critical testing of the Hypersonic Technology Vehicle 1—a joint Air Force and DARPA program that is developing and demonstrating hypersonic technology. The capability envisioned involves a reusable Hypersonic Cruise Vehicle capable of delivering 12,000 pounds of payload up to 9,000 nautical miles in less than two hours. AEDC engineers completed more than 30 successful runs with the HTV-1 model, simulating speeds of Mach 10 and 14.
A new report from the Government Accountability Office calls for the Pentagon’s Chief Technology Officer to have budget certification authority over the military services’ research and development accounts—a move the services say would add a burdensome and unnecessary layer of bureaucracy.
