Lockheed Martin''s "Skunk Works" developing hypersonic missile and long-range strike aircraft

Palmdale, Calif.-based Lockheed Martin''s Advanced Developments Projects (ADP), famously known as "The Skunk Works," has recently described progress made by it in the development of a hypersonic missile demonstration programme, dubbed the Revolutionary Approach To Time-Critical Long-Range Strike (RATTLRS).

According to ADP, proof pressure testing of its RATTLRS vehicle had been completed in association with Klune Industries, a Los Angeles company that specialises in the fabrication of exotic metals. It said that final integration and systems checkout of the RATTLRS hypersonic missile will now proceed, with a first flight scheduled for early next year.

Meanwhile, ADP has also said that its future Long-Range Strike (LRS) aircraft for the USAF would combine next generation technologies in aerodynamics, propulsion, avionics, sensors and communications. The LRS, according to The Skunk Works, would provide "highly advanced, survivable worldwide strike capability."