The goal for Blackswift is to be able to take off from a conventional runway, hit Mach 6 and possibly leave the atmosphere, accomplish its mission, then come back down and land on its own. It's also part of DARPA's Prompt Global Strike initiative ("If your missile isn't there in 60 minutes or less, it's free!"). The Blackswift propulsion system is a hybrid that mixes a fairly conventional turbojet for low-altitude, low speed flight with a ram/scramjet for hypersonic speeds. Above Mach 4, the ramjet takes over, slamming air through the jet at supersonic speeds without the use of a compressor or fan blade.

If everything goes well, Blackswift could provide a basic platform for the development of further military space vehicles. Which is simultaneously really neat and pretty terrifying. Image by: Wired.

Boeing Joins Lockheed on Blackswift. [Military.com]
Blackswift Swoops in for $750 million. [Wired]

Boeing calls it the Advanced Tactical Laser (ATL). It fires from a belly-mounted rotating turret mounted to a modified C-130H cargo plane. On May 13, the chemical laser was tested on the ground. Soon, they'll advance to actual air-to-ground testing against fake targets. No actual test data or specifications for the laser (or the damage it can do) have been released.

The problem with laser weapons is that they are heavy and bulky. Until they get a lot lighter, there's not much chance that a bomber squadron is going to replace a bunch of payload with one of these things, unless it's for public relations. Not that it isn't nice to see the military developing super advanced weapons so they kill fewer people. No word if the lasers will be Cobra Blue or G.I. Joe Red. Original Image by: U.S. Navy.

Laser Blaster Gunship Closer to Flight Test. [Defense Tech]