Missile américain: n'importe où dans le monde en moins d'une heure!

À l'évidence, pas encore au point...

"DARPA, the Pentagon's advanced weapons division, lost contact with a test version of a new weapon designed to hit any target around the world in less than an hour.


The Falcon Hypersonic Test Vehicle 2 test vehicle took off on top off an Air Force Minotaur IV rocket this morning at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif.

The rocket and its payload traveled successfully into the earth's upper atmosphere, where the Falcon separated from the Minotaur, DARPA said.

Once separated, the Falcon should have glided through the atmosphere at nearly 13,000 miles per hour, while separate air, land and sea-based assets collected flight and performance data from the vehicle's on-board systems.

But shortly after the Falcon began the glide phase of the test flight, DARPA officials say they lost contact with the vehicle.

During the first HVT-2 test flight, DARPA lost contact with the vehicle nine minutes into the flight and it crashed into the Pacific.

This time around, contact was maintained for "more than nine minutes" but the link was lost shortly thereafter, and the vehicle again crashed somewhere in the Pacific, according to a DARPA statement.

"We know how to insert the aircraft into atmospheric hypersonic flight. We do not yet know how to achieve the desired control during the aerodynamic phase of flight. It's vexing; I'm confident there is a solution. We have to find it," HVT-2 Program Manager Air Force Maj. Chris Schulz said."