‘Of course we can’t know for sure if someone else could have the technology already,' he said.ĭr Khandelwal, is among a team of scientists working on the technology behind such types of 'pulse detonation engine'. But that has not dampened the spirits of the theorists, who point to a sighting of a mysterious triangular object by a North Sea oil engineer in August 1989.ĭr Khandelwal was keen to distance himself from the world of conspiracy theories, though he conceded there could always some things unknown to the public. It can theoretically power planes at five times the speed of sound. A PDE can detonate between 60 and 100 times a second and its contrails appear to look like 'rings on a rope' (pictured), or a spineĪccording to experts, including Dr Phillip Atcliffe, senior lecturer in aeronautical engineering at Salford University, if a passenger jet flew at Mach 6 at current jet altitudes of around 30,000ft (9,144 metres), the sonic boom could damage buildings. Technology has advanced since then, and the SR-72 will be a so-called ‘warm structure’ - it will heat up rather than reflect the heat using the sort of ceramic tiles that covered the Space Shuttle.Ĭoncorde wasn’t allowed to fly supersonic over land because of the ‘sonic boom’ - the sound associated with the shockwaves created by a craft moving faster than the speed of sound.Ī PDE engine works by using force from a series of explosions, caused by mixing a fuel mist and air intake, to thrust itself forward.
The firm said the plane can accelerate up to Mach 6, or 4,567mph (7,349km/h) - three times faster than Concorde.Ĭoncorde flew no faster than Mach 2, primarily because the materials weren’t available in the Sixties that could withstand greater heat. However, the former head of Lockheed's Skunkworks division, Ben Rich, said Aurora was a codename for the stealth project which eventually led to the B-2 Spirit.īut, in November 2013, Lockheed Martin announced it was developing a spy plane with similar technologies called SR-72. The firm was said to be looking into replacing its SR-71 Blackbird, which was later retired in 1998. Other reports suggest the Aurora programme kicked off at Lockheed Martin's Skunkworks in 1987.
These reports did not reference a single craft, instead they discussed a series of planes.
The entry said $445 million was attributed to 'black aircraft production' under the name Aurora. These claims originated in Aviation Week and Space Technology magazine, which ran an article in 1989 about a mysterious entry in the 1985 US budget. It could be a successor to the Mach 3.35 Lockheed Martin SR-71 Blackbird craft that was retired in 1998.īy comparison, extreme reports claim the Aurora could hit up to Mach 11.8.
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