Pentagon Tests Hypersonic Space Weapon

The US Defense Department is testing a new hypersonic weapon known as the Falcon HTV-2.  The weapons platform skims along the Earth's atmosphere at an extremely high rate of speed.  The concept is that the US would be able to respond within an hour to a threat anywhere in the world.  This would enable preemptive action against a rogue state or terrorist group planning a WMD strike or other attack against the US or its allies.

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) coordinates the project and testing.  A previous test resulted in the vehicle crashing into the sea as an abort measure.

The $308 million Falcon HTV-2 is a suborbital near-space vehicle launched on a Minotaur rocket, a solid-fuel booster built from a decommissioned ballistic missile. On the very edge of the atmosphere, in a procedure called "clamshell payload fairing release," the launch missile deploys the plane, which is then supposed to glide above the Earth at more than 13,000 miles per hour — more than 20 times the speed of sound.

DARPA is also experimenting with scramjet technology for the Air Force which would enable hypersonic flight for unmanned aerial vehicles capable of delivering ordinance quickly almost anywhere in the world.  Unfortunately with the Obama administration's desire to weaken US military capabilities and sacrifice advancement for the sake of a new START Treaty, projects like this may be threatened.