EKV/KV/KW/KKV/LEAP (Exoatmospheric Kill Vehicles) Hover Test - Compilation Video (SM-3, GBI, etc.)

Compilation video of Exoatmospheric projectiles' hover test.
1:21 The first tests at the NHTF involved the KHIT experimental hover vehicle (EHV) and culminated in April 1989 with the first full up hover test of a KKV prototype. During the 24 second flight, the 200 pound EHV, using its bipropellant rocket engines, maneuvered through a preprogrammed hover flight trajectory and safely landed in the capture net.

[@cr0wmp918]

You can watch my ICBM re-entry compilation videos to see how fast these vehicles' targets are. kzbin.info/www/bejne/oGi7aWyXaphkebs kzbin.info/www/bejne/aYuwZKxrptWAnbs Thank you for your comments and likes!

[@ricklaser2846]

I think the tic tac ufo is just an new generation of MKV, or something like that.

[@murrijuana2842]

@@ricklaser2846 I like your thinking

[@Muonium1]

This is, beyond any shadow of doubt, the finest compilation video of this kind that I have ever seen anywhere, and I've been viewing these sorts of videos for long over a decade now. Exceptionally clear video (notable lack of aliasing, good color rendering, etc), original audio with no obnoxious music overlay, succinct no-nonsense presentation. I honestly haven't seen some of these clips since viewing them on the Discovery Channel and TLC in the mid 90s when they originally aired. Superlative. I just got back from viewing your MIRV reentry compilation video....I've never even seen some of these clips. I'd thought I'd seen them all by now...where are you even getting these?? Fantastic. That's a subscribe, bro. If you're into boring ancient fusion and superconductivity documentaries I got u covered on my channel, I guess 🤣🤣 Hope you have more for us soon.

[@Grommo]

​@@ricklaser2846 Nah, have a read of metabunk and the meticulous physics based analysis of those videos. The "Gofast" video is of a slow high small ( 7ft) object travelling at windspeed.. ie a drifting balloon. The gimbal video is a jet exhaust seen at a great distance and its seemingly odd motion is just a predictable artefact of the flir pod gimbal mechanism. Tic tac is a distant engine heat signature that the camera gimbal looses lock on and so its apparent acceleration is just an artefact of the camera no longer tracking it.

[@ricklaser2846]

@@Grommo Well, actually I mean MKV. They were revealed to the public around 1997, (that means they were developed much earlier). It is quite possible that this technology has improved a lot. from the type of discharge it looks like they used hydrazine as fuel

[@RADIOACTIVEBUNY]

Just looking at how this thing operates, the fact it was the late 80's, and listening to how absolutely TICKLED the engineers were, this thing must have been a nightmare to get to work.

[@flare242]

Ok, so this IS the stuff from the late 80s. Immediately when i saw that i had a feeling that i saw something like this during Reagan's presidency. I think it was part of the SDI.

[@flare242]

@E Van I don't talk shit about it, i loved the videos! You know what's funny, btw? When information about SDI got through the iron curtain, soviet propaganda mixed these videos with scenes from Star Wars (the movie) to discredit and make fun of the technology. Because only a very small percentage of people had access to western movies, as a result, a lot of them started confusing the star wars (SDI) and Star Wars (the movie). After commie regime fell apart in November 1989, borders opened and with it, huge influx of western wares and movies started. So, when Star Wars (ep.4) finally got into theaters in 1990, people, who up to that point didn't have the opportunity to see it, actually thought, that it's gonna be a documentary about Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative. Hilarious! There were bootleg copies of various western movies on VHS in circulation, usually with horrendous quality overdub performed by a single person, but VHS players were a luxury, only party officials, regime protegés and various shady characters had them at home.

[@Jonathan.D]

@@flare242 Those dubbed movies are the worst. I don't know how people can listen to it. When they released the TV show Friends in parts of Eastern Europe it was the first show that used dubbed voices that matched the characters. However, the people were used to the Borris voice doing the same voice for all the characters. So they had to redub them with the Borris voice. In some small Asian countries, they do the same thing. My wife will sometimes watch them. It's so confusing for a non-native speaker to listen to.

[@Bialy_1]

@@flare242 " i had a feeling that i saw something like this during Reagan's presidency. " nope Apollo program was long before Regan's presidency and official story behind landing on the Moon is exactly this type of propulsion the Moon lander was using... So computer with few Kilobyte of memmory and clock of only few Mhz was able to control in real time all the rocket engines, colect the data from sensors and calculate in real time necessary changes to the vehicle trajectory on its way back to the module on orbit... and you think it is funy that Soviet were not ready to swallow this type of stories? heh

[@ruslankazimov622]

@@Bialy_1 Because those computers were specialized computers with very simple input and output devices and no GUI or fancy operating system with 100s of drivers. You believe it or not but computer program controlling those thrusters have really simplistic task compared to modern game AI.

[@tonywu1222]

The engineers are so happy

[@tractorbasil5713]

You'd be happy too if you just made a UFO

[@Arae_1]

@@tractorbasil5713 it's not a UFO because it's identified

[@YouTubeviolatesmy1stamendment]

But why are they so excited it's like they didn't think that it was going to work but if they didn't think it was going to work then why did they test it not continue work on it until they thought it was going to work

[@hansc.o8999]

​@@KZbinviolatesmy1stamendment You have never built something yourself, do you?? doesn't matter how hard you've worked building something the only way of knowing if it works is by testing it, and even if you know it will work you would get happy as a normal human being.

[@osmacar5331]

I would too given those are a right bitch to do

[@notflanders4967]

the fact that it was tracking a heat source _through_ a wall autonomously 30+ years ago... To imagine the tech today, is properly terrifying.

[@JustSomeGuy1979]

What amazes me also,is that this thing was moving with the precision that it was,at sea level,with gravity involved.I believe these vehicles are intended for a zero gravity environment.

[@TTS-TP]

​@@JustSomeGuy1979definitely has the capability at least😏😉

[@heffaynekoguy687]

Cyberpunk is here now and we just dont know it

[@craigmackay4909]

That back engineering from the dozen recovered ET craft 🤫

[@JohnKickboxing]

Hey, anyone here knows how it moves forward and backward? ... As the video shows how well it can move vertically and horizontally.

[@billahler7728]

Fun fact. My sister and her husband were both engineers on this. Both were fresh aeronautic engineers out of college and not dating at the time. My sister sent home T shirts that had the LEAP logo on them. The way the US DOD develops 1000’s of these projects and shelves them is something else. It’s the knowledge and technology that we really gain off of them.

[@rebelroar78]

They didn’t shelve it. This is probably the technology generator for what became the Tic-Tac UFO.

[@MrFastFox666]

I love how the narrator is all calm and serious as he explains the thing while the engineers are screaming like children in the background.

[@A_piece_of_broccoli]

that's why they hire narrators to do the talking. last time they had an engineer explain his work it started a war, a depression, and a comedic impulse for the world to laugh at.

[@b3at2]

Its the god damn tic tac UFO.

[@coffee_drinker2912]

That's not the engineers. It's the "sales" department, lol.....

[@joshuakuehn]

Aerospace engineers are insane. Every single one I work with is not normal.

[@MrFastFox666]

@@joshuakuehn lmao guess I'll fit right in then.

[@SkyChaserCom]

The engineers are so proud and celebrating. This was NOT EASY tech to make drones like this in the late 80s. The attitude control of these devices is amazing.

[@HaloWolf102]

There is an animation called 'Ruin' by 'Wes Ball' where these drones were an inspiration for a chase scene with a motorcycle. I highly recommend it.

[@chrismathewsjr]

it was actually very easy for me to do this in the late 70s, but i guess i'm built different

[@TAKIZAWAYAMASHITA]

and with russia threatening nukes looks like we will have to pray that this tech from the 80s will save our lives anti missle systems have been developed for decades yet never had to be used well hopefully this time they work when we need them

[@MadScientist267]

@@TAKIZAWAYAMASHITA The Tsar is the bomb.

[@vex123]

I don't even think they had software back then. Probably all analog

[@babyzdog4324]

It's crazy that a lot of these vehicles were filmed during the 90's and are considered relatively "low tech" compared to today's modern EKV's.

[@tracyrreed]

1:49 I was an intern (high school apprenticeship program) at the Astronautics Laboratory at Edwards AFB when this video was first released. I always remembered it as the "go baby go" video. It's wild to see it here now. I haven't seen this video in over 30 years but I remember it very well.

[@prudhvikakoju9381]

1:49 oh my God 😂😂

[@jxiros827]

The engineers don't even care what you wanna use this thing for, they just love the sound it makes and the way it moves.

[@kaponkotrok]

Sound pollution enters the chat

[@sigmaramen]

@@kaponkotrok Enters your mother

[@SirCutRy]

They are excited it finally works. Lots of trial and failure is not shown.

[@housemana]

thats why its so scary. they dont care how much death this thing is intended to bring.

[@bhseigel]

I don't know what it's called I just know the sound it makes when it tracks and kills an ICBM.

[@machinesandthings9641]

It’s so insanely stable, It hovers like a cinema drone. Amazing engineering

[@GregoryBrown-fe5js]

Same concept different Propulsion

[@ryanjones7681]

But with rockets!

[@alphalex88]

It's the magic of gyroscopes

[@alqaeda7040]

This thing is for missile movement in space

[@FingerStink420]

@@alqaeda7040 we also have Ion Rockets.

[@nikushim6665]

A lot of these videos are well over two decades old at this point but they are basically RCS systems (same used on spacescraft) crammed into a small unit. They just look insanely impressive when operating in high gravity because they are constantly having to fire for course corrections.

[@MW-nOttawa]

try 4 decades old

[@paulneilson4106]

Try 3.

[@chadterry9770]

This was unbelievable tech 30 years ago that for the most part was kept secret. It's hard to imagine the capabilities and size of today's version given how far technology has come. Just compare a cell phone from back then to a smart phone of today!

[@antoniolsn2518]

Это диметилгидразин?

[@nikushim6665]

​@@antoniolsn2518 Its a mono so yeah probably N2H4.

[@WHEELES]

1:22 Dictor: just talking. Background: *crazy man.mp3* Dude, it's absolutely beautiful

[@joshm3484]

The fact that it's doing that under the erects of full gravity is amazing. Imagining it in space, with little gravity and no air resistance is impressive.

[@jackmclane1826]

Some of these tests look like being done in that huge vacuum chamber. When you see no smoke it's probably that.

[@1degRazz]

@@jackmclane1826 3:05 no smoke huh

[@jackmclane1826]

@@1degRazz Did I say all the tests were made there? I don't think so... -.-

[@Chevsilverado]

@@jackmclane1826 There would still be smoke in a vacuum chamber but it would act much different than how it acts in atmosphere.

[@jaffredoflorentin3230]

Those are designed to pull dozen of g's. This 1g is basically nothing to them.

[@c0sm0naut]

I saw these things in Battlefield 4 and figured they were absolutely fictional, this footage is awesome. Thanks for enlightening me!

[@aviator2252]

this is meant for ICBM interception not a drone unfortunately

[@crunchysoup8515]

@@aviator2252 yes but the technology is still insane

[@MooseMeus]

SM-3. THAAD. SM-3's are deployed on all our Navy Destroyers and I think they've even strapped one to an F-15 . Our Naval fleet is designed to fight a nuclear war, people don't realize it, but it is specifically designed for that engagement. No other conventional force comes close to matching us at sea and therefore a huge emphasis is put on shooting down enemy ICBMS.

[@seus5878]

@@MooseMeus Neptune (RU) 🤣

[@MooseMeus]

sometimes i read the comments i write and im like holy shit i mustve been drunk@@seus5878

[@ausieking]

I absolutely love it when engineers get to see something they’ve spent ages on finally come together and work❤️

[@kozmizm]

I actually saw this video on VHS tape in 1994. I also remember reading about brilliant pebbles and their earlier iteration, smart rocks. I assumed that's what i was seeing in these videos, at the time. I never thought I'd see this footage again. It brings back memories

[@kieranstephenson3187]

This looks like something straight out of a sci-fi movie, damn... It moves so accurately and fluidly!

[@arcengelraphael1082]

They are 1000s of years ahead of us

[@claytonjames9841]

This is what your aloud to see hahah and it’s from the 80’s

[@TRPYGanja]

@@claytonjames9841 fr we can only wonder what other experimental projects are classified.

[@1001names]

I like that you say this. Battle of los angeles, there the alien ships move just like those 👍🏻😄

[@doubletapm4]

Yeah wondering about what the tippy top scientist are working on keeps me up at night lol! 🤖 😳

[@eriv]

This video/ tech is from 89. Imagine how far along these guys are today.. makes you wonder what they really have flying 🛸 around the 🌎

[@matsv201]

Probobly level 23 of genderstudies

[@dlv1977]

The tic tac maybe?

[@runatrix]

Probably anti gravity aircraft with wormhole capability, but it is all classified of course. Secret classified programs have been going on since like WWII, there are a lot of testimonies about this although we can't know for sure

[@noroses4you]

literally all the ufo sightings

[@Joerules]

@@dlv1977 not even close. To not have any measurable resistance when going below water is beyond any conceivable tech we think we have. No doubt this explains 90% of the 1% that is unexplainable. But I am also an idiot.

[@vicenteremo5043]

I remember seeing this in the 80s as a kid on TV. Never seen it again until now. So awesome!

[@nozyspy4967]

What an amazing machine! That thing moves like some of those 'UFO's' that have been reported changing speed and direction instantly.

[@guyfrompoland1358]

Love how the engineers don't hide their joy

[@kosmokainen3988]

Wait why was this recommended to me lmao

[@edwardcardozo8325]

Poland to space when

[@451degreesF]

@@kosmokainen3988 because you like it and we know it

[@RagbagMcShag]

lmao right they sound like the COD kid who gets a killstreak at round start

[@Chili.P]

@@edwardcardozo8325 soon my friend

[@MalikAlMalik]

Imagine what the military has done with this tech since it went dark for the past 40 years.

[@lmeza1983]

Arming robot and drones.

[@alqaeda7040]

It is used on Thaad missile for anti nuclear

[@omgz8876]

Like voice to skull tech.

[@dirkdiggler2430]

Ironman!!

[@horacio2562]

I was wondering this as well

[@mamad7244]

If they had things like these 40 years ago now imagine what they could have right now

[@jld593]

DO have

[@digijock223]

no sh*t

[@donald-dudu]

DJI drone? LOL

[@joelmulder]

Nothing is more joyous than the sound of excited engineers.

[@CiroqLee]

I love how you can just hear the amount of hours they put into the machine through all of that yelling and cheering. What a beautiful video

[@magdump4456]

This is some of the coolest footage I've ever seen!

[@AIRBORN_EEvEE]

You’ve gotta appreciate the constant cheers of joy from the engineers in the background.

[@MrBoringcabbage]

man, I fucking love the sound of happy engineers

[@revh_g18x_whk02]

The WOO!!!! YEAHH!!!!!!!! YEAH!!!!!!!! OH MY GOD!!!!!!!! Gets me 🤣

[@bobthebomb1596]

Yorkshire engineer: That'll do!

[@peanuts2105]

Normally it's the sound of bad language, flatulence and arguments with MANAGEMENT.

[@ronaldchong]

sounds like they overdubbed the reactions to a winning home run in the world series.

[@embracethesuck1041]

As long as they're not cheering in German.

[@521cjb]

When it's hovering in Earth's gravity, it's actually accelerating at 1G. Imagine how fast it could go in 0G. That thing is a bullet. Or a cannonball.

[@dustinfischer1624]

1g acceleration is all we need for space travel the only problem is energy/fuel. But if we had ships capable of sustaining 1g flight we could fly to mars and back easily and much faster like in the series the expanse where they accelerate the first half of the way than turn around and brake in the direction they are flying for the other half of the way

[@DanielGrovePhoto]

How fast in mph is 1G? 9.98m/s ?

[@princevegeta6236]

@@DanielGrovePhoto 1G is acceleration. Your speed depends on how long are you accelerating for.

[@JacobRy]

@Spastik i get 6

[@uku4171]

It's approx. 9.8 m/s squared. m/s is a unit of speed, m/s^2 is acceleration (meters per second per second to understand it better).

[@pheelmacababe2861]

i think what made these things so unique is having such a small profile vehicle with enough fuel to just pump out lil bursts of thrust to conserve its fuel and still maneuver incredibly well

[@BrianGay57]

That was what impressed me the most. So much thrust generated with so little space available for fuel.

[@AlexKarasev]

2:10 we can make out a thin hose I read elsewhere that the main thrust is just a single solid rocket chamber providing output for multiple rapidly switched exhaust nozzles, whereas orientation is chilled gas. But different vehicles may have used different powering schemes. All of them certainly look impressively agile.

[@mstiff402]

I’m really glad to hear them speaking English in the background. Imagine what’s behind closed doors today! This is 40 years ago.

[@death_parade]

What they have today: A miniature version of this so that more can be mounted on a single interceptor missile. How do I know? Because we achieved this tech level in India around 12-15 years ago and the programs running now will produce the aforementioned in another 15 years or so.

[@robertwalsh5461]

This is one of the coolest…no the absolute most bad ass piece of engineering I have ever seen. Addendum: I did see this back around 15-20 years ago on TV, I think it was on “EXTREME MACHINES.” I DVRed it an showed all my friends and everyone agreed…Coolest Ever!!!

[@jmk1727]

this was the best engineering you've seen? ...you were watching it be replayed in your living room long after it happened by a signal that was shot into space and bounced off a satellite that's traveling roughly 17,200 mph and once it reaches you at near the speed of light your "DVR" unscrambles the signal to let you see, hear and basically feel what they saw that day at near the speed of light again and not only for your enjoyment but you saved it to be able to show your friends & family further in the future any time you want and only by pressing a couple buttons on your remote which wirelessly controls all the features of said "DVR" as if you were holding a fucking magic wand personally given to you by Gandalf the Grey. but yeah, whipped cream cans with a gyroscope - much more incredible 🏅🏆

[@frankiethebull8269]

@@jmk1727 geez did you invent satellites or something.... don't be so offended 🤣....you're one of those KZbin know it alls huh😅

[@asymptoticsingularity9281]

@@frankiethebull8269 I applaud those that point a finger at the finger pointer.

[@06fz1000]

You had a dvr 15-20 years ago?

[@NoahSpurrier]

@@06fz1000 TiVo, the first popular DVR, came out 22 years ago.

[@342Rodry]

I can't imagine the kind of technology they have right now

[@jebes909090]

instagram filters unfortunately.

[@juntingiee2602]

@@jebes909090 thats what they want you to think lol

[@_salaryman_]

Same.

[@Varvarmisanthrope]

2019. Earlier in the year, the Pentagon had issued a stop work order on the project following a design review deferment in December 2018 due to the failure of critical components meeting technical specification.

[@migs8497]

@@jebes909090 they’re all under black projects

[@penroc3]

amazing guys. the roll was pretty smooth

[@jairussiriyalaofficial8922]

This video 's first clip when i saw the first time i thought it so mesmerizing but might be out dated so didn't saved it, but I never forgot and never (unfortunately) saw anything like it again, so, I started searching and searching at the end had to give up .. (felt sad that I didn't save the video) but after so many years seeing it with its cousins performing for so long is so cool. Thanks , (I saved it to my playlist. lol )

[@mralpha64002]

Remember those spottings of extremely fast, small, and omnidirectional craft? Those are these put with decades of improvement.

[@michielotsen6317]

Tictacs!

[@nicholasbstone]

Nah, they must be "aliens" from "outer space"

[@ishkibable]

@@michielotsen6317 All those military sightings had no visible means of propellant, and had no known origin, hence why they were so concerning to Congress, and why Congress created a task force in response to the Pentagon report… civilians were not privy to the good stuff.

[@ishkibable]

@@nicholasbstone Humans are on verge of becoming and interplanetary (violent) species, it would make a lot of sense if you were an ET race to study us Earthlings while keeping their distance. They probably see humans like we see bacteria in a Petri dish, interesting to look at, but you don’t want it to spread.

[@UnblestMATT]

From my understanding, they didn't emit any heat like these would.

[@Blakearmin]

This is wildly impressive. But the way it moves creeps me tf out. It's so precise and unnatural.

[@coachjoe3074]

Ever watched a dragonfly hunt?

[@ImOvervalued]

Ever seen Mark Zuckerberg?

[@Blakearmin]

@@coachjoe3074 Yes, but even that has organic curves to it. It's not a strict axis pivot perpendicular to the velocity vector that it continues along, in some weird insectoid way of trying to maintain radar lock from it's nose on. Damn, that was a really clunky sentence. I hope that makes sense lol

[@coachjoe3074]

@@Blakearmin love me some organic curves, if ya know what I'm sayin.

[@coachjoe3074]

@@Blakearmin also, what you described is almost exactly how a dragonfly flies. Including target lock, vertical and horizontal orientations, either perpendicular or otherwise, in relation to movement vector, etc. Hell, they can even fly backwards while hunting. Dragonflies straight up don't give a fuck. Theyre monsters

[@Justforfun-ek7et]

Oh to be part of a team that creates and innovates with things like this.

[@bobvalley2221]

I can only imagine what this has evolved into over the last 40 years.

[@CS-RAVAGE]

I see where Dice got their inspiration for the XD-1 Accipiter 👀

[@captaintaylor8265]

Yessss final stand was amazing!

[@bigsyrup8567]

We’re never getting 2143. :( But given how new Battlefield games are, I think I’ll stick to playing the old 2142 via the Reclamation project.

[@frankiethebull8269]

I remember my friend said "BF4 is too futuristic" because of the XD-1.....so then I showed him this video🤣

[@microwavegommmm916]

This comment brings back nostalgic memories

[@nerblebun]

I worked at the U.S. Army Ballistic Missile Test Range at Kwajalein, Marshall Islands during the bulk of the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) testing. All I can say is... these are the cutest little kill enhancement devices I've ever seen, and we loved killing nuclear warheads before they reached the atmosphere.

[@lord-REDACTED-]

👀

[@fpvnwv1493]

👀👀

[@carloscontreras3633]

If these are cute…then…😮

[@lord-REDACTED-]

@@carloscontreras3633 I'll put it this way. The f22 is an absolute killing machine, and it's 20+ years old... The f35 is a watered down f22 that we shared with "friends". Imagine what we have NOW The thing in this video is 40 years old ... 👀

[@icecupcake7007]

Tf

[@billykruger8392]

Thursday morning on the loo scrolling my feeds and then this. Thanks, KZbin Algorithm, you know me so well. Made my day.

[@samcoon6699]

They probably are invisible and travel through time now.

[@chrishoesel]

These give me Battlefield LA vibes. Been following this program since the 80's as a little kid being so fascinated with how these brilliant pebbles just hover like that.

[@endutubecensorship]

*ABSOLUTELY*

[@crucial0072]

Just said that, seconds later I find your comment. 😂😂

[@jstephenallington8431]

I was trying to place the sound it was making, it sounded sorta familiar. Now I think that I know why. Wasn't there something in the movie that made that sound? Was it in "District 9"?

[@jstephenallington8431]

It's cute, but it would burn a lot of fuel in a very short period of time. You'll notice none of the tests last more ten-fifteen seconds and it's out of fuel. Fuel to weight ratio is a very real thing. And hovering burns a lot of fuel.

[@MrBlindbird]

@@jstephenallington8431 It's said above,the movie is called 'Battle: Los Angeles'

[@ironman8727]

You could hear how proud and happy the Wizards behind the curtains of this Incredible Machinery happening. I can imagine myself building something incredibly impossible and being successful with the process. It will surely give you Goosebumps.

[@fabricio-agrippa-zarate1000]

The guys testing the thing are so excited and happy, they're truly proud😅😂

[@Laserfish17]

ive been looking for this video for ages

[@NoSTs123]

I am amazed by the lenght of the time it can stay airborne, as it does not seem to be connected to a hose, feeding it the reaction mass, but using only a pressurised tank (which it ofcourse has to lift by itself). I also did not think that pulsed cold gas thruster can produce so much force on our atmosphere (probably very inefficient but cool anyway). Kudos to whoever built this! *sorry for bad english, cant be biotgmhered to write propetly Edit: It uses a hypergolic thrusters for propulsion and cold gas ones for stabilisation.

[@jaffredoflorentin3230]

I am no expert, but based on the flame and smoke, it looks more like a single solid rocket engine with multiple exhausts in every direction, that can be switched on or off really fast. This could explain why the thrust is never "off", only redirected elsewhere.

[@scrambledmandible]

Why is it that everyone who apologizes for having bad English has equal or usually better English skills than native English speakers

[@Marci124]

​@@scrambledmandible Idiots usually aren't humble. By which I mean people who don't think that it's necessary to meet the reader half-way by proper use of language usually don't feel sorry for not having made the effort to communicate clearly.

[@chris746568462]

@@jaffredoflorentin3230 I think it's hypergolic fuel in pressurised tanks. Each engine is fed by fast acting valves. Hypergolic fuels burn instantly upon contact with an oxidizer, no ignition is needed.

[@richardmillhousenixon]

@@jaffredoflorentin3230 It looks like the one at 1:57 is most likely a SRB with adjustable gates, but I don't think any others are

[@gemizu4874]

If you've played Battlefield 4 you know how deadly these things can be haha

[@kidcharlemagne1002]

Was looking for the battlefield fan.

[@MeatVision]

🤣

[@crucial0072]

Had a guy on Battlefield 3 that would absolutely murder other teams with the MAV. LOL

[@frankiethebull8269]

The Ancippitor✊😅...hate those too when I'm not in control 😏

[@rejectedgaming1019]

Was looking for this comment lol

[@DitDot55]

This was awesome vintage video of something I've never seen before - WTG LORD LUDICRIS!

[@jk-76]

This gives a couple of recent videos some context.

[@weaselsworld]

Watching Transformers: Dark of the Moon and Battle: Los Angeles (shaddup, they're good for some mindless fun!), I couldn't stop wondering where I'd seen vehicles getting around like that before, and now I finally get to have that "AHA!" moment! Thanks for dropping this blast from the past, OP!

[@Sophocles13]

That thing is freaking awesome! Now imagine it doing that while traveling at a massive velocity on an intercept course with something moving incredibly fast in the opposite direction! The accuracy necessary is incredible!

[@stirfrybry1]

I believe I have seen two of these craft in the sky early one morning lit by sunrise so they reflected back immense light. One of the tubes suddenly rotated 180 degrees and now I understand how it works. Cool video. I saw the craft looking west from New Milford CT back in summer of 2003 at about 7am Edit: I forgot to add that were at like 50K feet or something and were as big as jets

[@Rhodanide]

Man, this is too cool.

[@thats_my_comment]

I have been looking for this video on KZbin for so long now I saw this on KZbin about 7 or 8 years ago and honest to God I always thought this device is probably what the tic tac object is seen by the fighter pilot off the coast of California it's pilotless so they can withstand any amount of G-Force and it's capable of serving a really important role in space defense or nuclear deterrent technology is just so damn cool that this video was finally found by someone else they had enough interest in it to look it up that is so fucking cool whoever found it out there in the KZbin world

[@mytxmygun6300]

When I first saw one of these hover, about 5 minutes ago thats exactly what I thought. Plus this technology is over 30 yes old, just look at a cell phone 20 yrs. The possibilities?

[@subtomeandgetabsolutelynot4154]

It’s crazy how this weird looking object can save us from getting vaporized in case of nuclear warfare

[@bearsmith3655]

I’ve been looking for this vid too Absolutely fascinated when I first saw it

[@xmo552]

Bingo

[@AndrewSteffenHB]

Your dog is amazing, he is hunk

[@dannyzero692]

I love how this thing levitates completely still while tracking

[@calipete]

This video is super cool, but it's slowed way down, so you don't even get a true sense of how fast the little pulse rockets were firing. Nor can the video do justice to how loud these things were! I got to see a live demonstration of them, and it's something I'll never forget. It warms my heart to know that my dad machined many of the intricate parts of the engines on these little devices. Without a doubt, their existence in orbit, and their intercept speed, had a great impact on the cold war.

[@jcims]

Amazing collection of these videos!!! I've tried finding these on various occasions and have only seen a third of what you have here. Love it!!!

[@pmackenzie415]

Besides being one of the coolest devices I've ever seen! The absolute excitement of those engineers from seeing all their hard work a complete success is intoxicating!!

[@gregparrott]

Very impressive. The narration leads me to believe this may have been recorded in the 1980's, during the SDI 'Star Wars' years. But no dates are posted.

[@melioristicone333]

And to think several decades of potential advancements have gone into this technology. Thank you for this upload

[@chrislaws4785]

If they had THIS in the 80s, imagine what they've probably been able to do with it since then. Things like this just MIGHT be responsible for some of the weird UFO sightings people have seen. Cause think about it, has anyone heard the government talk about these things since then? There probably so advanced now that there able to go at super sonic speeds and able to stop on a dime and take off like a rocket. Which could explain a lot of sightings of things coming to a stop really fast and taking off just as quickly. And with the small thrusters it would be relatively silent. Just a thought.

[@medec602]

Thank you for saying it so I didn’t have to write all that out. It was exactly what I was thinking. The only thing you’re missing is the connection to current day nuclear threats happening. Maybe that’s why were being so brazen and telling Russia “go ahead let’s go to nuclear war, bring it!” Maybe we have something that can wipe out their nuclear weapons before they are a threat.

[@greatoutdoors6318]

I thought the same thing. The only thing I don't understand is how you'd power one to hover in earth's gravity... unless they've got some other propulsion tech that we don't know about.

[@T.M....]

The alleged "tic tac" UFO video would be simply an advanced version of what you see in this video.

[@chrislaws4785]

@@T.M.... Pretty much EXACTLLY what I was thinking. Either an advanced version using solely man made tech, OR a whole new version using info and tech they got from else where.

[@z-beeblebrox]

This technology and similar experiments like it effectively lead to the invention of cruise missiles, which are nothing but unmanned jet engines designed to crash into a target. Which in turn lead to modern drone warfare, so there's no doubt that even more advanced experiments are being conducted now.

[@Ripen3]

That looks awesome

[@NBC_NCO]

What a unique and cool sound.

[@OverlordShamala]

I'm aware that the Standard SM-3 missiles uses Exoatmospheric Kill Vehicles called the LEAP program. Very interesting to see these test vehicle performing.

[@Echo4Bravo]

I've been looking for this clip for like a decade. Remember seeing it on TV. It's still very impressive.

[@user-ej4hu8mk5h]

Excellent !!!

[@mind7106]

Awesome we are entering into serious technology era, congrats to all who put there hard work on this 😍😍😍👌👌👌👌👌👌👌👌👌

[@vargr8435]

1:30 "GO BABY GO" *manic laughter*

[@ihategoogleplus5308]

I hope one day to make my family as proud of me as these engineers are of this vehicle.

[@kamoteph273]

i saw this video decades ago. cool

[@theilluminatist4131]

Thank you Aerojet Rocketdyne...

[@Alexg4691]

This tech being released on video in 1989 according to the one video is amazing considering what other tech the U.S. has but would never put on video for people to see. Now it has been 33 years later and I can only imagine what the U.S. has now. Everyone talks about how Russia and China have these hyper-sonic rockets that the U.S. cannot handle, I call BS. The U.S. has been working with hypersonics forever, to say that the U.S. doesn't also have hypersonic missles or ways to takedown a hypersonic warhead is crazy.

[@saddlepiggy]

I’ve always heard Skunkworks and other top secret programs are 30 years ahead of public knowledge.

[@swiftbiscuit455]

@@saddlepiggy I feel like that gap is going to get farther in no time with quantum computing. They have, in my opinion, the power to change the world for the better. I also believe they won't be used for that.

[@lol_0kkay]

We can shoot missiles down with lasers now

[@centralintelligenceagency9003]

@@lol_0kkay Giant "lasers"?

[@DiceStrike]

Indeed. NK and other are trying to launch their nukes. US has made nukes almost useless. With MOAB, Railguns etc. Hypersonic missles cant dodge the speed of light aka Laser Defence systems

[@mikoriad]

This reminded me of how some of the ships stabilize in Star Citizen. What an awesome feat, though it looks soo inefficient.

[@aviator2252]

it is meant to operate in space, yes it is using RCS to achieve lift, Yes its horribly inefficient, because reason 1&2. This is meant to be loaded with dozens or hundreds of others onto a LEO rocket and deploy on the projected intercept course of a nuclear ICBM missile and fly in coordinated formation and collide Kinetically with the missile to destroy it using the energy of 1000's mph merging velocity

[@mikoriad]

@@aviator2252 Correct, I completely understand and agree. I wonder what is currently being developed or being used. Has to be massively more impressive. This tech is "pill" territory.

[@aviator2252]

@@mikoriad As far as I am aware this is still the best for Leo intercept, ballistic phase may have some new tech for sure idk what now the stopped the ABL testbed, so it may be we have moved to ground based laser defense

[@BushCampingTools]

AMAZING!

[@davecrupel2817]

I wonder if this thing was an inspiration for the drone ships in the movie Battle: Los Angeles. Cause they hover & fly around EXACTLY the same way this thing does. Lots of thrusters pulse-thrusting in variable ways to give the craft either a baoanced hover, or certain directional & atitude changes.

[@BrokenLifeCycle]

Those engineers in the background probably have the same level of joy that SpaceX engineers had when Falcon 9 landed successfully for the first time.

[@ZaHandle]

times 100

[@sniffmatip3865]

Seeing stuff like this is what made me study to be mechanical engineer only got 3 years left and I'll bee hopefully working on something that is as exciting as this project.

[@jasoncalvetti1983]

Try projects at home too

[@acardenasjr1340]

Good luck!

[@TalonID]

I worked on this project, it was awesome! There is a model of a vehicle on display at the Reagan Library in Simi Valley-CA.

[@kingrichard29]

When were you there? I started in 90 working through 92.

[@TalonID]

1988-1989 as a Sub designing and building the electronic interconnect@@kingrichard29

[@meeirudayo7270]

mind blown. I never knew this is a thing

[@dev-debug]

I now have no doubt the military has flying tic-tacs in 2020's

[@Marci124]

I wonder how many people realize that standing still in atmosphere is just about the last thing the vehicle is supposed to do. I guess it's just a convenient test of a bunch of systems and processes.

[@KaiTakApproach]

Most people don't get it. Still need to get dialed in on the orbital mechanics to deliver this thing. It's just a final yard adjustment system, basically an autonomous docking system. That said, it is very impressive to get it to hover in atmosphere.

[@michaelh.1262]

Simple solution It’s sent on a fast missile to intercept a rocket that it detaches from, and can make adjustments in space, and keep its speed

[@uktenatsila9168]

I remember when footage of these vehicles was disseminated. Still amazing to see.

[@GamingHelp]

I don't know why, but that bang-bang control method for those thrusters makes that thing scary as shit. I still vividly remember watching the movie "Battle LosAngeles" and that one UAV instantly brought this to mind. And it was scary as hell in that movie too.

[@j.jarvis7460]

I’ve been watching wondering when we’ll see that kind of rapid movement in drones but so far the only near thing to it is pre programed drone flights. I guess we don’t have computers capable of thinking so quickly.

[@GamingHelp]

@@j.jarvis7460: I'm waiting for someone to watch R/C helicopters do 3D and realize "Holy crap... Computerize that thing and nothing can hit it!". They can accelerate so fast they look like they disappear. They start/stop explosively. Crazy stuff. It's worth finding some video's of someone flying REALLY hard 3D...

[@j.jarvis7460]

@@GamingHelp what I’m seeing is our processing power is far from this reality.

[@GamingHelp]

@@j.jarvis7460 That's not really the case though. This is actually a trivial control problem, doubly so with todays hardware. A 2 dollar core could iterate a control loop for something like this 1000 times a second (1ms slices) and have enough compute time left over to whistle dixie. Even 30 year old off the shelf consumer hardware could do it with ease. And, now that we have MEMS hardware like crazy miniaturized gyro's and accelerometers, that makes it even easier. Heck, I'd be exceptionally surprised if they aren't already building entire 6 degree gyro/accel into some cores making you able to do the entire control (outside of data acquisition/hardware drivers) in a single die.

[@barthchris1]

@@GamingHelpI agree. Trivial tasks done nowadays with a 50 cent microcontroller and a mems gyro/ accelerometer. still for the time this was an incredible achievement.

[@carmatic]

I have been looking for this for a long time! I vaguely remember seeing one of these clips on the Discovery channel and I remembered it as some kind of satellite which did not need to follow orbital mechanics, since it could just hover

[@newtypealpha]

They don't hover. These are maneuvering systems for guiding a missile to intercept its target. Picture a bullet flying towards a bullseye; if the bullseye suddenly moves to the left, the bullet fires a thruster and moves to the left to keep the bullseye directly in its path. It's necessary because hitting a target at orbital speeds requires an insane amount of precision, so a projectile trying to hit a target in space needs to be able to control its trajectory to within a few millimeters.

[@chaotickreg7024]

Hovering in place would require a lot of sustained energy. I think it's easier to get into a geosynchronous orbit.

[@carmatic]

@@chaotickreg7024 thats what made these things so special, because everything else does the easy thing of following a ballistic or orbital trajectory

[@newtypealpha]

@@carmatic These ALSO follow a ballistic trajectory. The only thing the thrusters do is let them fine tune their trajectory to ensure they hit what they're aiming at. The fact that it can hover only shows that it can accelerate at more than 1G in any given direction.

[@tac-cobserver3788]

Awesome 🤙

[@chadknight218]

Honestly so frickin’ cool.

[@cybergothika6906]

What blows my mind is how a super secret vehicle leaked to the public. Can as well have been done on purpose. If that's what YOU are authorized to see, imagine what you can't.

[@rumfordc]

maybe its shown specifically to make us imagine things that don't actually exist?

[@cybergothika6906]

@@rumfordc It is possible too

[@kingrichard29]

The program wasn't classified. All of the videos were labeled for official use only. I worked in the Space Experiments Directorate at the rocket lab at Edwards during this timeframe.

[@Infinite81023]

Excellent distraction from zero point energy. The child in me enjoys it. Recalling the toys using compressed air from 80’s - Air hogs… flying craft to cars fast forward to hobby grade quads with brushless motors depleting high discharge cells. Beautiful times we are living.

[@alphaindustries5775]

What is zero point energy?

[@Infinite81023]

@@alphaindustries5775Hope this adds to your awareness of what is possible. kzbin.info/www/bejne/maqwlnePbamKipI

[@shamiemcguire1588]

Man. That's after blowing my mind

[@lawrencetaylor7771]

Awesome 👍

[@loumorningstar7709]

As an engineer I can perfectly understand that whoop at the end of the test. Holy shit, I bet getting that working was a pain in the ass, putting it lightly.

[@nicknorthcutt7680]

Just imagine what is in development nowadays

[@killman369547]

more shit to cause kessler syndrome i assume. Humanity really is JUST smart enough to fuck ourselves over.

[@ZaHandle]

@@killman369547 kessler syndrome already happened we just aren’t at the point of no return yet(thankfully)

[@trumptookthevaccine1679]

This kept the guys up 6 months straight… I’ve been there

[@sdmoparmaninsd6713]

that is incredibly good controls for late 80s tech

[@jameskellum4]

I've seen some really cool, really strange, and now just down right futuristic things in my time. This reminds me of the training Droid from star wars the one the Jedi's use

[@jesusgonzalez8788]

One of these videos is from 1989? HOLY! Yeah I’m starting to think UFOS are unclassified weapons.

[@murrygondwana7260]

Yes.

[@Tounguepunchfartbox]

100% look up Iran UFO incident. Those little “UAPs” that the government claims to know nothing about were attacking Iranian nuclear facilities in 2004. Iran even accused the CIA of operating them lol.

[@russellmanweller6694]

I've always liked these things.