Air Force Scientists Pursue The Next-Generation of Hypersonic Weapons

Video Above: Colonel Michael Stefanovic, Director of the Strategic Studies Institute for the Air Force sits down for an exclusive interview with Kris Osborn

By Kris Osborn, President, Center for Military Modernization

(Washington D.C.) Current Air Force Research Laboratory “basic research” is  beginning to shape the materials informing hypersonic weapons construction in the coming decades, as far away as 10 or 20 years…yet at the same time, service weapons developers are also generating near-term results with the breakthrough firing of the hypersonic Air Launched Rapid Response Weapon from a B-52.

Hypersonic Weapons

The AFRL is amid a series of ongoing basic research experiments with the aim of uncovering breakthrough or “disruptive” technologies able to change the paradigm for future war. Although of course AFRL innovators often harvest for near-term applications when possible, current research in the areas such as the exploration of new composite materials, weapons shapes and configurations, thermal management and efforts to manage the air-flow or “boundary layer” surrounding hypersonic flight are all beginning to show promise.

Maj. Gen. Heather Pringle, Commanding General of the Air Force Research Lab told Warrior in a special conversation that their scientists are now intensely focused upon basic research in the realm of hypersonics, with a specific mind to finding paradigm-changing materials, guidance systems and explosives. Much of the collaborative efforts, Pringle explained, involve key partnerships between the AFRL and allied nations, industry collaborators and academic partnerships with universities.

For instance, should the “air flow” surrounding a hypersonic projectile be “laminar” or smooth, the weapon is more likely to stay on course to its target at speeds five times the speed of sound. However, turbulent air flow can cause molecules to move in the immediate area surrounding the weapons, and greatly impact temperatures needed to sustain hypersonic flight. One of the large reasons there is so much exploration of new composite materials is that scientists continue to search for newer, more heat resistant combinations of chemicals, composites and materials to increase the probability that a hypersonic weapon can sustain its trajectory or even adjust in flight to hit moving targets.