Hacker News Reader

The article frequently mentions the agility of these hypersonics. Doesn't 'flies super fast' usually require 'flies in a straight line'? Do we have suitable materials for control surfaces that can withstand the drag/heat/pressure of an evasive, quick turn at Mach 5?

View on HN

The SR-71 did it fine slightly above Mach 4. If you call taking a few states to make a turn evasive.

Well, the SR-71 could go over Mach 3 at 85,000 ft. If you could have somehow pushed it to that speed at sea level, you would have had even worse heat problems.

Requiring a few states to hang a left makes it difficult to both evade and defense hit a target, right?

Your attacker is going to have roughly the same problem turning as you do. Though an unmanned attack vehicle (missile, drone) isn't limited by physiological g-force limitations.

At some point though your airframe becomes airframes and flight dynamics change considerably.

my understanding is that maneuverability is thought of in Gs - so even though the turn radius is enormous, the acceleration is high, and it's the acceleration that prevents defensive interceptors from getting hits

Reply on news.ycombinator.com