Military researchers lose contact with fastest unmanned aircraft ever launched
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Military researchers conducting the flight of the fastest unmanned aircraft ever launched said Thursday they had lost contact with the vehicle.
The Falcon Hypersonic Test Vehicle (HTV-2) had successfully separated from the launch vehicle and was performing "glide phase" maneuvers meant to test its aerodynamics when contact was lost, according to an 11 a.m. (ET) Twitter post from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). The latest tweet, at 12:30 p.m. said downrange trackers were unable to relocate the HTV2 but the vehicle "has an autonomous flight termination capability".
The hypersonic aircraft was intended to eventually land in the Pacific Ocean.
More here: Lost at sea. Military loses contact with hypersonic test plane – CNN Security Clearance - CNN.com Blogs
