Intrepid activist Bruce Gagnon bravely writes in from Bushitler’s Amerika to warn us

Each year the Space Command performs a war game set in 2016. In that war game the new military space plane, the Falcon, flies across the planet at six times the speed of sound and delivers 12,000 pound bombs against the “Red” team. Red team means China in Pentagon language.

I do not think that phrase means what you think it does.

In wargaming, the opposing force in a simulated military conflict is known as the Red Team, and is used to reveal weaknesses in current military readiness.

And .. what a new space plane?  How cool. Except, not so much.

The FALCON project includes:

• The X-41 Common Aero Vehicle (CAV) – a common aerial platform for hypersonic ICBMs and cruise missiles, as well as civilian RLVs and ELVs; flew in 2005
• The Hypersonic Technology Vehicle-1 (HTV-1) – a test concept, originally planned to fly in September 2007 now cancelled
• The HTV-2 – to fly in 2008
• The HTV-3 – to fly in 2009
• The HTV-3X – Blackswift
• The Small Launch Vehicle (SLV) – a smaller engine to power CAVs, tests to begin by 2010

Calling FALCON – a program with 6 vehicles (and one cancelled) in test – a new space plane is stretching the truth a bit.

Cross posted to Space For Commerce.