The Americans are preparing a new rocket-carrying aircraft for hypersonic. Yesterday, January 17, the press service of Stratolaunch LLC announced the successful completion of the third stage of flight tests of the Roc giant aircraft.
During the latest tests, the aircraft spent more than four hours in the air and climbed to an altitude of over 7 km. According to the developers, this test flight opens up an opportunity to test the Talon-A hypersonic vehicle, a test platform for testing hypersonic aircraft technology.
Roc Aircraft
Image source: stratolaunch.com
Stratolaunch indicates that the Roc will be able to lift up to three Talon-A or other aircraft at the same time. The first launches may take place this year. Initially, Roc was created as a platform for the air launch of space rockets, but after the death of Paul Allen, one of the founders of the company, the fate of the project was in question. Later, Stratolaunch was bought out, and Roc was repurposed for testing hypersonic vehicles.
The Roc aircraft is made according to a two-body scheme, its wingspan is 117.3 m, the length of each of the fuselages is 72.5 m, the weight is 226 tons, the maximum take-off weight is 590 tons (of which 250 tons is the payload). The space between the fuselages of the aircraft is intended for the installation of missiles or aircraft (maximum 3 units).
