Why a new hypersonic missile engine is a milestone for UK defence capabilities
The UK successfully tested a new hypersonic missile engine, a significant advancement for its defence capabilities.
The engine, developed with US and NASA support, uses air-breathing technology for greater range and speed.
This is a key step in the UK's Hypersonic Weapons Programme, aiming for a demonstrator by 2030.
Over 233 tests were conducted at NASA's Langley Research Centre, covering supersonic to hypersonic speeds.
Defence Minister John Healey called it a "milestone moment" for UK defence, emphasising collaboration with the US.
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Daily Record
2 hours ago
- Daily Record
NASA issues major update on 'city-killer' asteroid 2024's chance of crashing into the Moon
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Scottish Sun
4 hours ago
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Nasa issues shock update on hidden ‘city killer' asteroid heading towards the Moon in 2032
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EXCLUSIVE The 'con' that Trump never saw coming as Elon 'crosses the Rubicon'
When Elon Musk spectacularly torched his relationship with Donald Trump, it seemed the Big, Beautiful Bill was to blame. But privately his issues with the president ran deeper than concerns over the ballooning public debt. He was pushed to the brink when his NASA nominee, billionaire payments entrepreneur Jared Isaacman, was axed by Trump in a late-night Truth Social post. Until then, Musk's criticisms of the president had been confined to relatively measured arguments against the deficit. On Tuesday, he branded the bill a 'disgusting abomination.' Then he went nuclear on Thursday, invoking the Epstein files and calling for Trump's impeachment. 'Elon crossed the Rubicon,' Steve Bannon told the Daily Mail. The MAGA big beast has been stoking tensions between Trump and Musk for months. Now, he triumphantly declares that Isaacman - who was once sued by Trump's Taj Mahal casino - is a 'f***ing liberal' who helped collapse the house of cards. 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Trump was handed the dossier on Isaacman just moments before a televised send-off for Musk in the Oval Office. The president tempered his rage through the farewell but when the press were gone, he confronted the SpaceX boss. He began reading some of the donations aloud, shaking his head. 'This is not good,' Trump told him. The world's richest man begged the world's most powerful to reconsider. But the president, by now growing suspicious of the deficit hawk DOGE chief, wouldn't hear it. 'I don't care, this guy is gone,' Trump said. Some in Musk's circle have tried to cast Gor as the scapegoat for the presidential bromance break-up. But Bannon warned that blaming Trump's loyal aide would backfire. 'Sergio is bulletproof,' he said. Isaacman said he was blindsided when Trump pulled his nomination. 'I got a call Friday of last week [May 30] that the president decided to go in a different direction,' he said on the All-In podcast on Thursday. Isaacman heavily implied that his ties to Musk were to blame. 'There were some people that had some axes to grind, I guess, and I was a good, visible target,' he said, adding that 'the timing was no coincidence.' Isaacman's nomination was publicly rescinded on May 31, three days after Musk officially departed from his role as head of DOGE. Trump pointedly addressed the decision during an Oval Office meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz last Thursday as Musk's attacks on X spiraled out of control. 'I didn't think it was appropriate,' Trump told reporters. 'He happened to be a Democrat, like, totally Democrat. And I say, you know, look, we won. We get certain privileges. And one of the privileges is we don't have to appoint a Democrat. NASA is very important.' Isaacman dismissed that explanation. He noted the donations had already been disclosed to the Senate months earlier. Instead, he suggested he was knifed. An 'influential adviser came in and said "Look, here's the facts, I think we should kill this guy"', he said. 'I don't fault the president at all,' he added. 'He's got to make a thousand decisions a day with seconds of information.'
