World’s fastest glider plunges into ocean on test flight

AN unmanned hypersonic glider developed to test technologies needed for a new global strike bomber concept and designed to fly at 13,000 miles an hour plunged into the ocean after contact was lost when the experimental craft began flying on its own.

At its Mach 20 speed, it could travel from New York to Los Angeles in less than 12 minutes, and friction with the air can heat it up to 3,500 degrees Fahrenheit.

The HTV-2 is part of a Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) plan called Prompt Global Strike. If testing is successful, it could be used as an advanced weapons system whose incredible speed makes it capable of knocking out any target in the world within an hour of launch.