A surprise came from the aviation world, the news of hypersonic warplanes capable of circling the earth within three hours.
Quoted from the page Indy100.com on Tuesday (6/2/2018), the aircraft is designed by the company Boeing, and is called capable of having power five times the speed of sound. It's called being able to round the northern latitudes for three hours non-stop at maximum speed.
The company, nicknamed 'Son of Blackbird' is said to boost the realization of the design of related hypersonic aircraft over the next decade.
The plane design, named Valkyrie II, was announced at an aviation forum in Florida at the end of December. That said, the concept of Valkyrie II aircraft has been through the design stage for over the last year.
Although not yet issued an official statement related to the design of Valkyrie II, but Boeing did not dismiss that it continues to create a superior aircraft technology.
Other Utilization of Hypersonic Technology
The design of the Valkyrie II aircraft is said to be a close competitor to the SR-72 concept plane Lockheed Martin alerts, the SR-71 successor plane that perches as the fastest plane today.
Boeing's proposed design is not much different from Lockheed's design, which is both planned to use a combination-cycle engine with turbo-jet support to accelerate Mach 3. This power is called equal to three times the speed of sound.
Later, the combination of these engines will be collaborated with aircraft aerodynamic design, which is expected to reach Mach 5 power, or nearly equal to five times the speed of sound.
Boeing's head of hypersonic research, Kevin Bowcultt, explained to Aviation Week that related technology is being developed by Boeing. However, the realization still takes time, due to various considerations, both about technology and its impact on the environment.
"Currently, the development of hypersonic technology is focused on the presence of aviation fleets that are environmentally friendly, such as fuel savings and space efficiency," Bowcutt explains.
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Sebuah kejutan datang dari dunia penerbangan, yakni kabar mengenai pesawat perang hipersonik yang mampu mengitari bumi dalam jangka waktu tiga jam.
Dilansir dari laman Indy100.com pada Selasa (6/2/2018), pesawat tersebut dirancang oleh perusahaan Boeing, dan disebut mampu memiliki daya lima kali kecepatan suara. Hal itu disebut mampu mengitari garis lintang utara selama tiga jam non-stop pada kecepatan maksimum.
Perusahaan berjuluk 'Son of Blackbird' itu disebut akan menggenjot realisasi rancangan pesawat hipersonik terkait selama satu dekade ke depan.
Rancangan pesawat yang diberi nama Valkyrie II itu diumumkan di sebuah forum aviasi di Florida pada penghujung Desember lalu. Konon, konsep pesawat Valkyrie II telah melalui tahap perancangan selama lebih dari setahun terakhir.
Meski belum mengeluarkan pernyataan resmi terkait rancangan Valkyrie II, namun Boeing tidak menampik bahwa pihaknya terus berupaya menciptakan teknologi pesawat yang lebih unggul.
Pemanfaatan Lain Teknologi Hipersonik
Rancangan pesawat Valkyrie II disebut akan menjadi pesaing dekat pesawat konsep SR-72 lansiran Lockheed Martin, yakni suksesor pesawat SR-71 yang bertengger sebagai pesawat tercepat saat ini.
Desain yang diajukan Boeing sebenarnya tidak jauh berbeda dengan desain milik Lockheed, yakni sama-sama merencanakan penggunaan mesin kombinasi-siklus dengan dukungan jet turbo untuk mengakselerasikan daya Mach 3. Daya ini disebut menyamai tiga kali kecepatan suara.
Nantinya, kombinasi mesin tersebut akan dikolaborasikan dengan desain aerodinamika pesawat, yang diharapkan mampu mencapai daya Mach 5, atau hampir menyamai lima kali kecepatan suara.
Kepala penelitian hipersonik Boeing, Kevin Bowcultt, menjelaskan kepada Aviation Week bahwa teknologi terkait memang tengah dikembangkan oleh Boeing. Namun, realisasinya masih butuh waktu, karena berbagai pertimbangan, baik tentang teknologi maupun dampaknya pada lingkungan.
"Saat ini, pengembangan teknologi hipersonik difokuskan pada kehadiran armada penerbangan yang ramah lingkungan, seperti penghematan bahan bakar dan efisiensi ruang angkut," jelas Bowcutt.