US unveils X-43A, the world's most terrifying flying vehicle

To celebrate its 70th anniversary, NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center released over 200 videos of its test vehicles, including the X-43A.

Designed with a maximum speed of Mach 9.6, the X-43A unmanned aerial vehicle is considered the most mysterious program the US has ever designed and tested.

The X-43A is part of NASA's unmanned hypersonic vehicle development program, also known as the Hyper-X program.

According to some Western military sources, Hyper-X is actually part of the US Army's hypersonic weapons development program.

Like many other US hypersonic aircraft models, the X-43A is deployed from a modified NB-52A aircraft at a certain altitude, it can reach a speed of Mach 9.6 equivalent to 11,850km/h.

US tests X-43A.

Information about the Hyper-X program is completely kept secret by NASA, but one thing is certain: the X-43A is equipped with a new generation of jet engines, the Scramjet, which significantly reduces the size and weight of the flying vehicle.

NASA conducted the first successful test flight of the X-43A in March 2004, it was released at an altitude of 29,000m and reached a speed of 7,401km/h equivalent to Mach 6.83. The engine's fuel ran out after 11 seconds of starting and it flew more than 24km.

Previously, the event of breaking the sound barrier was considered a miracle in the history of human aviation, but when the X-43A was born, this vehicle could fly 9 times faster than that speed.

The X-43A is more than 3.6 m long, it operates on a gas jet engine instead of using rocket boosters to reach maximum speed. Unlike other rockets, which usually carry both hydrogen and oxygen as fuel, the X-43A carries only hydrogen. When it goes up high, it will draw oxygen from the atmosphere to burn this fuel.

Proponents of the technology say that by not needing to carry oxygen, the planes could cut their weight in half and be ready for long-duration space flights.

However, the X-43A requires a large initial lift force because it cannot take off on its own, and this is considered the biggest drawback of this flying vehicle.

According to Baodatviet