U.S. working on Mach 6.5 missile

WASHINGTON, Aug. 16 (UPI) -- The U.S. Air Force is developing a hypersonic engine designed to fly bombs at more than 4,000 miles per hour, The Christian Science Monitor reported Thursday.

The military hopes the Mach 6.5 engine will help it conduct long-range strikes on high-value targets in minutes instead of hours.

"Faster is always better in air power," said Brig. Gen. Jim Poss, the Air Force's director of intelligence for its Air Combat Command at Langley Air Force Base, Va. "What we've found from combat experience is that people realize very quickly you have to move to survive on the modern battlefield. And the best way to counter that is to get there with the appropriate weapon in the appropriate size very quickly."

The engine, known as the X-51A scramjet, could be a valuable tool in fights such as those raging now in Afghanistan or Iraq, officials said.

An initial flight test could be held some time in 2009, the Air Force said.

So far, the program has cost about $240 million, Mark Lewis, the Air Force's chief scientist, told the Science-Monitor.