Meet the newest weapon the United States Military has added to it’s arsenal. The Boeing X-51A Waverider.
The Hypersonic unmanned aircraft was originally revealed in 2010 by the United States Air Force. Currently the craft is being tested at Edwards Air Force base, located in the Mojave desert.
Image from U.S. Air Force
The X-51A is loaded on to a B-52 bomber wing station where it is launched at over 50,000 feet elevation. From there it is capable of accelerating to speeds in excess of 4,000 miles an hour.
The entire flight lasts around 5 minutes but the aircraft is able to demonstrate the direction in which the United States military technology is going.
Hypersonic flight is considered the next step in aviation, and the U.S. military is on the verge of making the breakthrough. 
The next test flight will launch from the base in the Mojave Desert, and fly out over the Pacific Ocean where it will launch and begin it’s record breaking flight.
The previous launch of the aircraft took place in 2010 where it was able to reach speeds of Mach 5. Scientists believe that this time around it can break its previous record, and hit Mach 6.
After the 5 minutes is up the aircraft will break apart and fall into the ocean.
The technology is being funded by NASA and the Pentagon.
