美國公司正在研發6倍音速飛機

Lockheed Martin says it's developing a Mach 6 aircraft that would be faster than any other fighter jet.

洛克希德·馬丁公司日前宣佈，該公司正在研發一款速度可達6馬赫、比其它所有飛機都快的戰鬥機。

Called the Hypersonic Test Vehicle 3X, or HTV-3X, the new plane could reach speeds of more than six times the typical cruising speed of the Boeing 747-8, which has been chosen as the next presidential aircraft.

這種新戰鬥機被稱爲超高音速驗證戰機3X，比成爲總統專機的波音747-8的典型巡航速度快6倍有餘。

The HTV-3X would be three times faster than the F-22 Raptor fighter jets, flying at 4,600 miles per hour – meaning it could travel the distance of the Earth's circumference in about five and half hours or the time it takes a 747 to travel from New York to Los Angeles.

超高音速驗證戰機3X的速度是F-22猛禽戰鬥機的3倍，爲4600邁--這意味着其環繞地球飛行一週僅需五個半小時，而同樣的時間波音747只能從紐約飛抵洛杉磯。

Lockheed Martin Chief Executive Officer Marillyn Hewson revealed for the first time that significant progress has been made regarding the new fighter jet.

洛克希德·馬丁公司的首席執行官瑪麗蓮·休森首次揭示了這種新戰鬥機所取得的重大進步。

"We accomplished several breakthroughs on HTV-3X. And we're now producing a controllable, low-drag, aerodynamic configuration capable of stable operation from take-off, to sub-sonic, trans-sonic, super-sonic, and hypersonic to Mach 6," she said in a statement.

休森在一份聲明中表示：“我們在超高音速驗證戰機3X技術上取得了幾項突破。現在我們正在生產一種可控的、阻力小的飛機氣動外形，從起飛到切換到亞音速，跨音速，超音速，高超音速直到6馬赫的速度下皆可平穩運行”。

"And most importantly, we're proving a hypersonic aircraft can be produced at an affordable price. We estimate it will cost less than $1 billion dollars to develop, build, and fly a demonstrator aircraft the size of an F-22," she added.

休森補充道：“最重要的是，公司正在努力證明高超音速飛機也可實現平價生產。據公司估計，研發、製造並起飛一架F-22大小的戰鬥機的造價將少於10億美元。”

At the same time, Lockheed's legendary Skunk Works is working on other secret hypersonic aircraft including the Falcon HTV-2.

洛克希德公司旗下富有傳奇色彩的臭鼬工廠還在進行其他高超音速飛機的研發工作，其中就包括獵鷹HTV2飛機。

The unmanned aircraft is launched on a rocket and could achieve Mach 20 speeds – that's 13,000 miles per hour. At those speeds, it could leave New York City and arrive in Los Angeles in less than 12 minutes.

這種無人機將採用火箭作爲助推器，速度可達到音速的20倍--也就是13000邁，在這種速度下，該飛機從紐約起飛到洛杉磯僅需不到12分鐘。