At an advanced high-speed test in the New Mexico desert November 26, 2007 Boeing Phantom Works and the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory began attempting to solve the problem of safely releasing ordnance from inside an airframe traveling at high supersonic speeds. The test is a small but potentially significant step in the Pentagon's development of a capability to strike anywhere in the world on short notice. Here's the challenge: ordnance released from an internal weapons bay at sufficiently high speeds will be forced back up into the bay by the airflow beneath the aircraft. The engineers are trying to develop a way to manipulate airflow actively to release munitions safely at higher supersonic speeds. The recent test, done on the ground, was successful, a good start.
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