DARPA officials reported late Friday that the hypersonic test vehicle-2 (HTV-2) launched April 22 via a Minotaur IV Lite from Vandenberg AFB, Calif., failed to complete its 30-minute glide over the Pacific Ocean. An April 23 DARPA release states that the Minotaur “executed first of its kind energy maneuvers, clamshell payload fairing release, and HTV-2 deployment.” However, the release continues, “Approximately nine minutes into the mission, telemetry assets experienced a loss of signal from the HTV-2.” DARPA has an engineering team reviewing the test data and expects the technical data to “provide insight” into the HTV-2 flight characteristics.
The Air Force and Boeing agreed to a nearly $2.4 billion contract for a new lot of KC-46 aerial tankers on Nov. 21. The deal, announced by the Pentagon, is for 15 new aircraft in Lot 11 at a cost of $2.389 billion—some $159 million per tail.