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We’re on the verge of being able to faster than ever before in aerospace. The US military is developing hypersonic missiles capable of traveling at Mach 5. They are being created for use in a program called ‘Prompt Global Strike.’ Popular Mechanics wrote an article about PGS last year:

If Pentagon strategists get their way, there will be no place on the planet to hide from an assault. The program — in slow development since the 1990s, and now quickly coalescing in military circles — is called Prompt Global Strike. It will begin with modified Tridents. But eventually, Prompt Global Strike could encompass new generations of aircraft and armaments five times faster than anything in the current American arsenal. One candidate: the X-51 hypersonic cruise missile, which is designed to hit Mach 5 — roughly 3600 mph. The goal, according to the U.S. Strategic Command’s deputy commander Lt. Gen. C. Robert Kehler, is “to strike virtually anywhere on the face of the Earth within 60 minutes.”

If the X-51 reaches Mach 5 it will be a breakthrough achievement in aerospace design. To put it into perspective with current operating capabilities, another missile, the Tomahawk, is able to fly at 550 mph. The X-51 is designed to achieve 3600 mph. For contrast, conventional airliners fly at roughly the same speed as the Tomahawk.Therefore the X-51 is six and one half times faster than a Boeing 737.

This got me thinking, if the US is developing missiles that can achieve Mach 5, they must be doing the same with an airplane.

The Falcon Blackswift flight demonstration vehicle will be powered by a combination turbine engine and ramjet, an all-in-one power plant. The turbine engine accelerates the vehicle to around Mach 3 before the ramjet takes over and boosts the vehicle up to Mach 6.

The Blackswift is using the HTV-3X designation. Here’s a concept drawing: