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Originally published May 26, 2010 at 5:14 PM | Page modified May 26, 2010 at 7:28 PM

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Boeing's unmanned aerial vehicle hits goals

Boeing said the first flight of the X-51A WaveRider unmanned aerial vehicle reached a top speed of about Mach 5 and flew nearly three and a half minutes before losing acceleration and being destroyed.

Boeing said the first flight of the X-51A WaveRider unmanned aerial vehicle reached a top speed of about Mach 5 and flew nearly three and a half minutes before losing acceleration and being destroyed, as planned.

Using a Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne supersonic combustion ramjet motor, the unmanned vehicle was launched from under the wing of a B-52 Stratofortress that took off from Edwards Air Force Base in California.

"We built four test vehicles to get a successful flight, and we hit many of our goals right out of the gate, the first time around," said Charlie Brink, the Air Force's X-51A program manager.

"This is a new world record and sets the foundation for several hypersonic applications, including access to space, reconnaissance, strike, global reach and commercial transportation," said Joe Vogel, Boeing director of Hypersonics and X-51A program manager.

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