WASHINGTON – The Pentagon has finally released a report about
what went wrong when its Hypersonic Technology Vehicle (HTV-2)
failed just minutes into a test flight last year and barreled
into the Pacific Ocean. The unmanned, arrowhead-shaped aircraft,
which one day could allow the US to strike anywhere across the
globe in less than 60 minutes, was strapped to a rocket and
launched from California's Vandenberg Air Force Base last
August. The drone coasted at speeds of 13,000mph (21,000kmph) --
20 times the speed of sound -- through the Earth's atmosphere
for less than three minutes before ultimately failing and
switching into abort-mode just nine minutes into the flight. It
splashed down short of its intended target near the Kwajalein
Atoll in the Pacific. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency
(DARPA) said an analysis of the crash showed that high speeds
peeled off larger-than-expected portions of the vehicle's skin.
'HTV-2's first flight test corrected our models regarding
aerodynamic design.' - Air Force