Message posted by Peter Merlin on July 25, 2010 at 14:51:28 PST:
Sonic booms and contrails don't give us any information and there are no photos or video available for analysis. People in a position to know the intimate details of real hypersonic programs have said no such aircraft has yet been built. Proposals for an SR-71 replacement (such as Lockheed's Mach 5 Penetrator) never went beyond the drawing board. It has been hard to sell the idea of a high-speed recce aircraft when the trend has been toward affordable, persistent platforms. There is one rumor of a high-speed prototype being tested at Groom Lake that deserves some consideration due to the source, but it was described as a demonstrator only. There is no evidence of an operational vehicle thus far.
In Reply to: Re: Discussion Forum Archive posted by Chris H. on July 25, 2010 at 12:32:34 PST:
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