Aurora (aircraft)

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Aurora

A flight simulator model of an artist's concept of the Aurora aircraft
Type Strategic Reconnaissance Aircraft
Manufacturer Unknown; most likely the Lockheed Advanced Development Company (alleged)
Maiden flight 1989 (earliest alleged observation)
Introduced Unknown
Retired Unknown
Status Unknown
Primary users U.S. Air Force (alleged)
Central Intelligence Agency (alleged)
Defense Intelligence Agency (alleged)
Number built Unknown
Unit cost Unknown [1]
Developed from SR-71 Blackbird (allegedly), North American X-15 (allegedly)

Aurora (also credited as the SR-91 Aurora) is the popular name for a hypothesised United States reconnaissance aircraft, believed by some[who?] to be capable of hypersonic flight (speeds of over Mach 5). According to the hypothesis, the Aurora was developed in the 1980s or 1990s as a replacement for the aging and expensive SR-71 Blackbird. A British Ministry of Defence report, released under the Freedom of Information Act, from May 2006 refers to USAF priority plans to produce a Mach 4-6 highly supersonic vehicle.[2] In September 2007, DARPA and the USAF signed a memo of understanding[3] to build a Mach-6 unmanned aircraft called "Blackswift" under the Force Application and Launch from Continental United States (Falcon)[4] program, but that does not explain the earlier reports. It is believed by some that the Aurora project was canceled due to a shift from spyplanes to high-tech unmanned aerial vehicles and reconnaissance satellites which can do the same job as a spyplane, but with less risk of casualties or loss of highly expensive, sensitive equipment.

Contents

[edit] History

The SR-71 Blackbird, the aircraft the Aurora supposedly replaced
The SR-71 Blackbird, the aircraft the Aurora supposedly replaced

In March 1990, the magazine Aviation Week & Space Technology first broke the news that the term "Aurora" was inadvertently released in the 1985 U.S. budget, as an allocation of $455 million USD for "Black aircraft PRODUCTION" (emphasis added) in FY 1987. Note that this was for building aircraft, not Research and Development.[5] According to Aviation Week, Aurora referred to a group of exotic aircraft projects, and not to one particular airframe. Funding of the project allegedly reached $2.3 billion in fiscal 1987, according to a 1986 procurement document obtained by Aviation Week. However, according to Ben Rich, former director of Lockheed's Skunk Works (now the Lockheed Advanced Development Company), Aurora was the code name for the B-2 stealth bomber competition funding, and no such hypersonic plane ever existed [6].

[edit] Lockheed Skunk Works

Lockheed's Skunk Works has been suggested[who?] as the prime contractor for the Aurora. Throughout the 1980s, financial analysts[who?] concluded that Lockheed had been engaged in several large classified projects, but the known projects could not account for the declared net income. Financial analysts at Kemper Securities have examined Lockheed Advanced Development Company's declared revenues from Black programs:

  • Returns for 1987 were $65 million.
  • Returns for 1993 were $475 million.

The only declared Lockheed Black Projects are the U2-R and F-117A upgrade programs, and nothing new has been announced between 1987 and 1993. It was also discovered[who?] that the total U.S. budget allocation for Project Aurora for 1987 was no less than $2.27 billion. According to Kemper, this would indicate a first flight of around 1989. The spread of U.S. Government payments to Lockheed indicate that the aircraft was probably about one-fifth (20%) of the way through its development program as of 1992, or has been "extensively prototyped." Around $4.5 billion has already been spent.[7]

[edit] Chris Gibson sighting

In late August 1989, while working as an engineer on the jack-up barge "GSF Galveston Key" in the North Sea, Chris Gibson and another witness saw an unfamiliar isosceles triangle-shaped delta aircraft, apparently refueling from a KC-135 Stratotanker and accompanied by a pair of F-111 fighters. Gibson and his friend observed this spectacle for several minutes, until the aircraft went out of sight.[citation needed] Having dismissed the F-117, Mirage IV and fully-swept wing F-111 as the identity of this unfamiliar aircraft, Gibson drew a sketch of the formation. Gibson was a member of the Royal Observer Corps (ROC) — and more importantly, had been in the ROC's aircraft recognition team since 1980 — but was unable to identify this aircraft.

When the sighting was made public in 1992, the British Defence Secretary Tom King was told, "There is no knowledge in the MoD of a 'black' programme of this nature, although it would not surprise the relevant desk officers in the Air Staff and Defence Intelligence Staff if it did exist."[8]

[edit] Sonic booms

Screenshot of Aurora in X-Plane
Screenshot of Aurora in X-Plane

A series of unusual sonic booms were detected in Southern California, beginning in mid to late 1991. On at least five occasions, these sonic booms were recorded by at least 25 of the 220 U.S. Geological Survey sensors across Southern California used to pinpoint earthquake epicenters. The incidents were recorded in June, October and November 1990, and late January 1991.[citation needed] Seismologists[who?] estimate that the aircraft were flying at speeds between Mach 5 and 6 (3,300-4,000 mph) and at altitudes of 8-10 km (26,200-32,800 ft). The aircraft's flight path was in a north-northeast direction, consistent with flight paths to secret test ranges in Nevada. Seismologists say[who?] that the sonic booms were characteristic of a smaller vehicle than the 37-meter long shuttle orbiter. Furthermore, neither the shuttle nor NASA's single SR-71B was operating on the days the booms were registered.[9] It is not definitively known if these events can be tied to the Aurora program or to other acknowledged or secret programs.[original research?]

In the article "In Plane Sight?" which appeared in the Washington City Paper on July 3, 1992 (p.12-13), one of the seismologists, Jim Mori, noted: "We can't tell anything about the vehicle. They seem stronger than other sonic booms that we record once in a while. They've all come on Thursday mornings about the same time, between 6 and 7 in the morning."[10]

Former NASA sonic boom expert Dom Maglieri studied the 15-year old sonic boom data from the California Institute of Technology and has deemed that the data showed "something at 90,000 feet, Mach 4 to Mach 5". He also said the booms did not look like booms from aircraft that had traveled through the atmosphere many miles away at LAX, rather, they appeared to be booms from a high-altitude aircraft directly above the ground moving at high speeds.[citation needed] The boom signatures of the two different aircraft patterns are wildly different.[11]

[edit] Steven Douglas sighting

On March 23, 1992, near Amarillo, Texas, Steven Douglas photographed the "doughnuts on a rope" contrail and linked this sighting to distinctive sounds. He described the engine noise in the May 11, 1992, edition of Aviation Week & Space Technology (p.62-63) as a:

“ (...) strange, loud pulsating roar... unique... a deep pulsating rumble that vibrated the house and made the windows shake... similar to rocket engine noise, but deeper, with evenly timed pulses. ”

The distinctive "doughnuts on a rope" contrail and pulsing sounds reported by many[who?] have given rise to the speculation that the aircraft might use pulse detonation propulsion technology originally patented in the 1950s, but not used on any acknowledged non-research project.

In addition to providing the first photographs of the distinctive contrail previously reported by many, the significance of this sighting was enhanced by Douglas' reports of intercepts of radio transmissions:

“ Air-to-air communications... were between an AWACS aircraft with the call sign "Dragnet 51" from Tinker AFB, Okla., and two unknown aircraft using the call signs 'Darkstar November' and 'Darkstar Mike.' Messages consisted of phonetically transmitted alphanumerics. It is not known whether this radio traffic had any association with the "pulser" that had just flown over Amarillo. ”

A month later, radio enthusiasts in California monitoring Edwards AFB Radar (callsign "Joshua Control") heard early morning radio transmissions between Joshua and a high flying aircraft using the callsign "Gaspipe" (which could be a reference to the Aurora's supposed exotic propulsion system[original research?]). Joshua controllers were vectoring Gaspipe into Edwards AFB, using terminology usually used during Space Shuttle recoveries.[citation needed]

“ You're at 67,000 ft, 81 miles out" was heard, followed by "seventy miles out now, 36,000 ft, above glideslope. ”

At the time, NASA was operating both the SR-71 and the U2-R from Edwards, but it has been confirmed that neither of these types were operating at the time Gaspipe was heard.[12] Curtis Peebles claims in his book Dark Eagles that the intercepted radio transmissions were probably a prank on the part of Edwards security personnel, but it is unlikely that they would have access to the terminology used in the transmissions.

[edit] The Scottish connection

Screenshot of the Aurora aircraft in the flight simulator X-Plane.
Screenshot of the Aurora aircraft in the flight simulator X-Plane.

Beginning in 1991, reports started appearing in Scottish newspapers — including The Scotsman — that the Aurora was landing and taking off from Machrihanish airbase on the Kintyre peninsula. Machrihanish was an RAF base with a long runway which was a V bomber dispersal base during the Cold War before being handed over to the U.S. Navy, which used it as an overseas base for their Navy SEALs until 1995. It was alleged that air traffic controllers had seen aircraft on their radars taking off from there and accelerating to high Mach numbers. None of the supposed controllers has ever gone on the record. Others have claimed that Royal Marines inadvertently discovered the Aurora in a hangar at Machrihanish, but again none of the supposed witnesses have ever gone on the record.

[edit] Other sightings

  • In March 2006, the History Channel broadcast a television program called "An Alien History of Planet Earth" which examined UFO reports in the context of secret military aviation programs. During the program, aviation journalist Nick Cook presented a satellite image of the continental U.S. showing a contrail allegedly originating in Nevada and extending over the Atlantic Ocean. The contrail was unusual, as it appeared different from other contrails visible on satellite images. The craft that produced those contrails was not visible on the image. Based on the details of the image, it was speculated that it indicated an aircraft flying at a speed of around 7,000 mph (Mach 10.5).
  • In December 2006, a video was filmed of a "doughnuts on a rope" contrail before hearing a supersonic boom that seemed to vibrate very viciously.[citation needed]

[edit] Decline of the Aurora

According to an "Exclusive Special Report" published in Military Space in January 1995, "Aurora was canceled by the Secretary of Defense Cheney in 1992, after he was informed that Aurora vehicles would cost approximately $1 billion per flight."[citation needed] A decline in the number of sightings after 1992, combined with the widespread understanding that the U.S. is now using low-speed "stealthy" drone aircraft in the reconnaissance role combined with spy satellites, led some observers to conclude by 1999 that even if the Aurora had existed, it was probably no longer in service. One possibility is that at least one Aurora was built but failed to live up to its design expectations. If so, the program may still be classified to conceal the significant amount of the money that would have been invested in the program.[citation needed]

In the 1996 book Skunk Works, Ben Rich, the former head of Lockheed's Skunk Works division, stated that the Aurora was simply the budgetary code name for the stealth bomber fly-off that resulted in the B-2 Spirit.

The October 2006 issue of Popular Science has noted that the U.S. Air Force operations budget has a $9 billion hole, with no explanation as to where the money is headed.[dubious – discuss] Also, unexplained booms similar to the 1990-1991 series have recently been felt in the San Diego area again, possibly meaning a resurgence of the Aurora project.[13]

[edit] U.K. Ministry of Defence paper on "BLACK" aircraft

Sample page of the MoD's report on UAPs, released in May 2006
Sample page of the MoD's report on UAPs, released in May 2006

In May 2006, the British Ministry of Defence (MoD) released an extensive report on Unexplained Aerial Phenomena (UAPs) in the U.K. air defence area.[1] It was written by the Defence Intelligence Staff (DIS) in 2000 and was originally classified "SECRET UK eyes only". It is unusual, because it contains official comments on "black" programmes. One of the Working Papers is entitled ""BLACK" AND OTHER AIRCRAFT AS UAP EVENTS". It says, "it is acknowledged that some UAP sightings can be attributed to covert aircraft programmes". The report lists three "Western" programmes which might result in this — all of which appear to be American (right side image). The first — not surprisingly — is the SR-71. Programme 2 and Programme 3 are redacted from the report — even their names are withheld.

Two photos or representations have also been removed from the file before release. Adjacent sections freely talk about the F-117, B-2 and F-22, and show photos of these aircraft; so these programmes appear to be something different. Elsewhere in the report the DIS says, "The projected (USAF) priority plan is to produce unpiloted air-breathing aircraft with a Mach 8-12 capability and transatmospheric vehicles as well as highly supersonic vehicles at Mach 4 to 6". The Mach 8-12 aircraft may refer to what the USAF announced as the Falcon Project in 2003 but this is the first official mention of a USAF plan for an Aurora-like Mach 4-6 vehicle. Bill Sweetman (Sweetman, Bill. (1993) Aurora: The Pentagon's Secret Hypersonic Spyplane) says the report shows the MoD "identified two separate U.S. 'Black' programmes that might have operated from the U.K." This caught the attention of the BBC Two's Newsnight (14/06/2006), who related the project to many other covert projects.

[edit] Popular culture references

For a time in the 1990s, the Aurora aircraft became a touchstone for every "cool" technology then under development. Soon it was appearing on the cover of various magazines such as Popular Science, and for some time was considered to "obviously exist" because the SR-71 had been retired and it was popularly believed that another aircraft was needed to fill the role. The Testors company produced a model kit based on designs popularized in the press. Other companies also got into the business. Estes Industries made a model rocket kit, and Galoob made a Micro Machines toy version of the theoretical aircraft.

The Aurora's status as a mysterious, fantastic and state-of-the-art aircraft has earned itself a place in popular aviation fiction. Here are some appearances of the aircraft in books, TV series, films, video games and flight sims:

[edit] Books

  • In J.C. Hutchins' 7th Son podcast novels, the Aurora is featured as a transport aircraft for the surviving Beta Clones in Book 2: Deceit and Book 3: Destruction. Several fan concepts of the plane have been created on Hutchins' website for the novels as well.
  • The plane is briefly mentioned in the novel Area 7 by Matthew Reilly where it is suggested by a character that Area 8 May contain the plane and the associated project.
  • The science-fiction novel Area 51 by Robert Doherty featured the Aurora spy plane, which in the book, is used in conjunction with test-flight of crashed alien spacecraft.
  • The plane is described in detail in the novel Coyote Bird by Jim DeFilice as a "Smart Plane" of the future, with an Artificial Intelligence Computer System named "Coyote". It is designated the SR-91, and not mentioned as Aurora.
  • The plane is extensively prominent in Robin A. White's 1990 novel The Flight From Winter's Shadow. Project Aurora's "Excalibur" as the plane was called by its crew, was manufactured by Norton Aerodyne. A golden upthrust sword was its symbol on the tail of the aircraft. Some of its technical descriptions are: Mach-5 capable, utilizing cryogenic hydrogen as fuel, with 4 engines (2 General Electric turbines and 2 ramjets for hypersonic performance), retractable canard wings for low-speed flight, operational ceiling of about 25 miles (132,000 ft), and internal bays that could accommodate equipment such as reconnaissance gear and weapons such as Air-Launched Cruise Missiles and rotary cannons.
  • The plane is mentioned and used in the book Nano by John Robert Marlow and is equipped with a pulse detonation engine and a chromomorphic skin.
  • The plane is described in and plays an important role in the plot of Silent Salvo by Joe L. Gribble.
  • In Payne Harrison's novel Thunder of Erebus, the Aurora is used on a reconnaissance flight from Nevada to McMurdo Base in Antarctica. The Aurora is refueled by in-air tanker mid-way through the trip, and travels at speeds greater than Mach 3.

[edit] Television

  • In The X-Files:
    • A "Black Triangle" type of aircraft from Area 51 is the object pursued by Special Agents Mulder and Scully in the episode "Dreamland". Although, in the series it uses a form of alien propulsion system.
    • The Aurora program is also referenced in the episode "Deep Throat", where the stresses and strains of piloting such an airframe causes psychological damage to one of the test pilots, which is then covered up by the Air Force.
  • The plane appears during an episode of JAG when it was piloted by U.S. Navy Commander Harmon "Harm" Rabb, Jr. and another pilot. The plane was being used by the CIA in the episode to spy on North Korean ground movements. In the episode, the plane emitted "doughnuts on a rope" contrails while in flight, and was even able to outrun SAMs launched against it.
  • Reported in detail in a History Channel program named "Greatest Military Secrets".
  • The plane appears in episode 3, series 6 of the British spy drama series Spooks.

[edit] Films

  • The Aurora is briefly mentioned in the movie Broken Arrow during the B-3 flight sequence.
  • There was some confusion over whether photos taken on an aircraft carrier were of the Aurora. However, these photos turned out to be of a movie prop taken during the filming of Stealth. That aircraft is the fictional F/A-37 Talon multi-role fighter of the U.S. Navy. The Talon and Unmanned Combat Ariel Vehicle, Extreme Deep Invader (UCAV, EDI) also were capable of achieving hypersonic speeds by using their "Swarm Logic" commands; the aircraft would collapse protruding edges and hording together in a "pierce/draft" diamond or triangle formation.
  • The film Tactical Assault features the 'Aurora' on the computer screens in the fighter plane cockpit scenes.

[edit] Games & flight sims

Games often assign the bombing or interception role to the Aurora in addition to (or instead of) reconnaissance.

  • Two versions of an Aurora bomber aircraft — one employing an immense bomb and one exclusive to General Alexander that employs an immense fuel-air bomb — are present in the computer game Command & Conquer: Generals and its expansion pack Zero Hour. On its attack runs, the Aurora flies too fast to be hit by anti-aircraft fire. After it drops its bombs it losses speed making it vulnerable to anti-aircraft fire.
The UI-4054 Aurora in Ace Combat 3: Electrosphere
The UI-4054 Aurora in Ace Combat 3: Electrosphere
  • The aircraft can be unlocked in the PlayStation game Ace Combat 3: Electrosphere. It is called the UI-4054 Aurora and is used by the Ouroboros faction. It is, however, armed with guns and missiles, and is super-maneuverable, unlike the real Aurora which is supposedly unarmed and designed to fly fast and straight.
  • Jane's Fighters Anthology military flight simulator (a compilation of Advanced Tactical Fighters, Navy Fighters and their expansions, European Fighters and USNF '97) included the "Aurora Spy Plane" as a flyable aircraft in the Jane's Information CD, which is packaged with the game. In the first mission of the Egypt 1998 campaign, an Aurora plane suffers mechanical problems while flying over the Mediterranean and needs to land at a U.S. airbase in the Sinai. The player is tasked to scramble and protect the aircraft from Islamic Egyptian interceptors.
  • The plane was featured in a mission in the late 90s PC game Spec Ops: Rangers Lead the Way.
  • In the first cutscene of the 2005 video game Area 51, game protagonist Ethan Cole and his fellow HazMat squadron teammates go down to Area 51 where a few spy planes can be seen, mounted, and resembling an Aurora artist concept; this may imply players of rumors of the aircraft being tested and developed in the Area 51 facility.
  • The Aurora is available to players in the role-playing game Conspiracy X. Piloting the aircraft causes physical and psychological stress, similar to the X-Files depiction.

[edit] Speculative specifications

All specs are from http://aerospaceweb.org/aircraft/recon/aurora/ and are speculative only.

General characteristics

  • Crew: 2 (1 pilot, 1 reconnaissance systems officer)
  • Length: 35 m (115 ft)
  • Wingspan: 20 m (65 ft)
  • Height: 6 m (19 ft)
  • Wing area: 300 m² (3,200 ft²)
  • Empty weight: 29,480 kg (65,000 lb)
  • Max takeoff weight: 71,215 kg (157,000 lb)
  • Powerplant: (Low Speed) 4× afterburning turbofans, (unknown thrust) each, (High Speed) 4× ramjets, scramjets or pulse detonation engines (267 kN est. thrust) each

Performance

[edit] Fuel types

[edit] Other equipment

[edit] See also

[edit] Literature

  • Rich, Ben; Janos, Leo. (1996) Skunk Works. Little, Brown & Company, ISBN 0-316-74300-3
  • Sweetman, Bill. (1993) Aurora: The Pentagon's Secret Hypersonic Spyplane. Motorbooks International, ISBN 0-87938-780-7
    • Online version available here
  • Yenne, Bill. Secret Weapons of the Cold War (chapter 10: Stealth Aircraft). Berkley Publishing Group, ISBN 0-425-20149-X
  • Peebles, Curtis. Dark Eagles: A History of Top Secret U.S. Aircraft Programs. ISBN 0-89141-623-4

[edit] References and notes

  1. ^ Aurora, Strategic Reconnaissance. AerospaceWeb.org. Retrieved on 2008-03-04.
  2. ^ DAS (May 2006). Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP) in the U.K. Air Defence Region. United Kingdom Ministry of Defense. Retrieved on September 29, 2006.
  3. ^ Blackswift Aircraft is Born; But Will it Survive? | Danger Room from Wired.com
  4. ^ DARPA official: AEDC 'critical' to hypersonics advancement
  5. ^ Aurora Timeline. Retrieved on September 29, 2006.
  6. ^ Skunk Works, 1994, Ben R. Rich and Leo Janos, Black Bay Books, page 309
  7. ^ Aurora Timeline. Retrieved on September 29, 2006.
  8. ^ Is it a bird? Is it a spaceship? No, it's a secret US spy plane. The Guardian (June 2006). Retrieved on September 29, 2006.
  9. ^ Aurora. Retrieved on September 29, 2006.
  10. ^ Aurora Timeline. Retrieved on September 29, 2006.
  11. ^ Secret Warplanes of Area 51. Popular Science (October 2006). Retrieved on October 4, 2006.
  12. ^ Aurora Timeline. Retrieved on September 29, 2006.
  13. ^ Secret Warplanes of Area 51. Popular Science (October 2006). Retrieved on October 4, 2006.
  14. ^ Falcon Down (2000) - Trivia

[edit] Further reading

News reports:

[edit] External links

General information:

Miscellaneous: