Does SR-72 Hypersonic Dark Star Have Technical Challenges?

by Kris Osborn, Warrior

It's hard to imagine a stealthy manned or unmanned 6th-gen or above jet capable of reaching hypersonic speeds in flight … could be cancelled. Seems unlikely, given the flurry of attention it received, speculation it inspired and capability it promised … yet the SR-72 Son of Blackbird aircraft seems to have vanished into a mysterious mist of uncertainty.  Virtually “no” new information on the aircraft has emerged, and there has been very little speculation or hype about the “star” aircraft featured in the movie “Maverick” for quite some time.

The absence of emerging information could signal one of two opposite possibilities: the SR-72 has either become even more secret than it may have been previously, so Pentagon developers are simply leaving no room for new speculation, or the platform has not performed as promised and is simply cancelled or vanishing from existence. However, an effort to determine if the SR-72 is somewhat paradoxical as one must first affirm and verify that the platform, in fact … exists. 

Technical complications?

Certainly the possibility of a highly maneuverable, manned hypersonic fighter jet has both Hollywood appeal and real-world tactical merit, yet establishing and sustaining stable hypersonic flight, in reality, remains challenging. The Pentagon is clearly at the point wherein its hypersonic weapons, such as its ground fired Long Range Hypersonic Weapon, are now operational. Years of study on composite materials, thermal management and air boundary layer research and experimentation has at last yielded operational hypersonic weapons for the Army. The Navy is making fast progress and is on track to arm its destroyers and submarines with hypersonic weapons. 

Sustaining a larger platform such as a drone or manned aircraft at hypersonic speeds presents yet another level of challenge, as leading scientists have long maintained that human beings simply cannot survive the heat generated at hypersonic speed. Scientists at the Army Research Laboratory, for example, have in recent years been experimenting with new combinations of materials with the hope of discovering new mixtures capable of supporting hypersonic flight.  Flight trajectory is also very difficult in terms of air boundary layer phenomenology, as a turbulent air flow surrounding a hypersonic projectile or platform can cause molecules to reposition and disrupt the flight path trajectory. Weapons developers therefore seek to engineer hypersonic weapons and future platforms capable of generating a smooth or “laminar” air flow surrounding a hypersonic vehicle. 

The other possibility could simply be that the platform was cancelled for cost or performance reasons, meaning perhaps it was not progressing as intended or hoped for by Pentagon developers. Developing and producing such exquisite technology has likely been extremely expensive, and Pentagon weapons developers may have simply wanted to move its funding to another or nearer-term weapons system in need of funding. 

Keep the SR-72 Dark Star 

Could the arrival of the ultra-strealthy F-47 and soon to exist F/A-XX lead some Pentagon decision makers to re-evaluate the merits of producing the mysterious, yet highly coveted hypersonic SR-72 DarkStar? Clearly not producing the DarkStar might save the Pentagon money it could spend elsewhere, yet the tactical merits of introducing aerial surveillance, targeting and attack at hypersonic speeds cannot be underestimated. 

Fast-arriving 6th-gen aircraft such as the F-47 are expected to travel at speeds of at least Mach 2 or greater with new generations of stealth technology, capabilities which would be massively complemented by a drone or manned platform traveling at Mach 6. Initially, one is likely to consider the simple, self-evident value of pure speed in war; a hypersonic platform could conduct attack missions and Intelligence Reconnaissance and Surveillance (ISR) operations at speeds seemingly impossible for enemy air defenses to “track” ot “target.”  

The Pentagon is well aware of this phenomenon, due to its ongoing work on hypersonic weapons and possible defenses against them; a projectile traveling at hypersonic speeds can make it extremely difficult if not impossible for any ground-based radar to establish a continuous target “track” by simply traveling too quickly from one radar field of regard to another.  The speed of transit from one radar aperture to another with hypersonic projectiles greatly complicates targeting a moving jet. This of course would hold true for hypersonic drones and manned jets as well, a circumstance indicating that the SR-72 could potentially add unprecedented value.  Any ability to fly, survey, network and attack at hypersonic speeds would only increase the detection challenges for ground-based SAMS need to establish a radar “lock” and target “track.”

Air Attack at Mach 6

A hypersonic drone could enter enemy airspace, gain critical intelligence and exit much too fast for an adversary to detect, something which helps secure an element of surprise and rapid-strike capability. A “manned” hypersonic jet would not only increase survivability for pilots but add additional dwell time options for extended attack. Perhaps most of all, manned hypersonic travel such as that envisioned for the DarkStar would bring human decision-making faculties to the tip of the spear on the edge of combat at unprecedented speeds. If networked sufficiently, a hypersonic drone and stealthy attack fighter could complement one another in air combat operations; a hypersonic drone could enter enemy airspace and perform key targeting to identify areas of attack, locate enemy air defenses and guide a manned hypersonic DarkStar platform to integrate human decision-making at hypersonic speeds. 

Kris Osborn is the President of Warrior Maven – Center for Military Modernization. Osborn previously served at the Pentagon as a highly qualified expert in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army—Acquisition, Logistics & Technology. Osborn has also worked as an anchor and on-air military specialist at national TV networks. He has appeared as a guest military expert on Fox News, MSNBC, The Military Channel, and The History Channel. He also has a Masters Degree in Comparative Literature from Columbia University