Hypersonic aircraft that could fly from Sydney to London in 49 mins set to take off

The unmanned,arrowhead-shaped aircraft has been dubbed Falcon Hypersonic Technology Vehicle 2.

An experimental aircraft that could fly from Sydney to London in less than an hour at blistering speeds of 20,921km/h is set for trial this week.

The unmanned,arrowhead-shaped aircraft,dubbed Falcon Hypersonic Technology Vehicle 2,will test new technology that would provide the Pentagon a lightning-fast vehicle capable of delivering a military strike anywhere in the world in under an hour,reports the Sydney Morning Herald.

At its top speed it could travel the 17,000 kilometres between London and Sydney in about 49 minutes.

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The Falcon is part of Lockheed Martin’s ‘prompt global strike’ concept.

It is being funded by US Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency,or DARPA.

It is due to be launched aboard a Minotaur IV rocket at Vandenberg Air Force Base,northwest of Santa Barbara on Thursday,US time.

The launch had been scheduled for 7am on Wednesday. But when that time rolled around,the Air Force held the countdown.

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Todays launch of the 30W Minotaur IV rocket has been scrubbed due to poor weather downrange. The launch has been rescheduled for tomorrow,August 11,between the launch window of 7am to 1pm, Vandenberg officials announced on the base’s Facebook page.