Boeing’s XS-1 (Experimental Spaceplane), which the company dubs “Phantom Express,” got a green light in May by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or Darpa.
With the proposed US Space Corps taking an important step forward this past week by being included in DoD defense spending and potentially formed as a seventh branch of the military, we were wondering how many of you would be interested in collecting scale hypersonic aircraft/space planes currently under development?
Lockheed’s SR-72, a purposed-built replacement for the retired SR-71 Blackbird, has been rumored to be in development for some time, perhaps already taking flight over the Mojave Desert
Several companies and countries are already tinkering with hypersonic flight, many seeing them as weapons delivery platforms that can arrive at their given target within hours of takeoff. If a separate line of scale, diecast hypersonic aircraft were to be produced, perhaps accompanied by a magazine detailing each product much like an Eaglemoss Star Trek starship, would you be willing to create a new area in your diecast collection dedicated to their founding?
Space has long been the bastion of science fiction writers who have conjured up all manner of invasion and conquest. Apparently, the US Defense Department is starting to pay attention to space as the next high ground, going so far to propose a separate branch of the military known as the US Space Corps. According to a recent posting on Wikipedia, The United States Space Corps (USSC) is a proposed branch of the United States Armored Forces that, if created, would absorb the United States Air Force’s current space missions and would be dedicated to the cause of space as a warfare domain.
In June 2017, the US House Armed Services Committee (HASC) voted to create the U.S. Space Corps. The new service would be administered by the Secretary of the Air Force (much as the Marine Corps falls under the Department of the Navy), but would be a separate branch, and necessitate a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. A provision in the House version of the 2018 US defense budget requested the creation of the Space Corps. The top Republican and Democrat on the strategic forces subcommittee, Reps. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) and Jim Cooper (D-Tenn.), are leading this effort. This proposal is opposed by the U.S. Air Force.
Its not clear how the US Space Corps would evaluate and utilize space as a military platform, the lengths to which they would consolidate and employ certain assets already in place as part of their arsenal, and steps they would take to develop and field new systems for both control over low Earth orbit as well as outer space, up to and including bases on the moon and Mars.
Beyond photo reconnaissance, it has long been speculated that the upcoming SR-72 will be capable of launching air-to-ground and air-to-air ordnance up to and including nuclear weapons
As a retailer of historically-based military products, we have always contended that there would be an eager audience looking to collect some of the conjectural systems currently on the drawing board, such as a hypersonic jet capable of striking targets anywhere around the world in two hours or less, or near future weapons systems destined for mid-twentieth century deployment by a number of nations.
On July 15th, the House of Representative approved the initial concept for the US Space Corps. The bill must now go before the Senate for ratification before it gets sent up to the Executive Branch final approval.
