The X-43 is the fastest aircraft on record at approximately Mach 9.6.
A winged booster rocket with the X-43 placed on top, called a ‘stack”, was drop launched from a Boeing B-52 Stratofortress.
After the booster rocket (a modified first stage of the Pegasus Rocket brought the stack to the target speed and altitude, it was discarded, and the X-43 flew free using its own engine, a scramjet.
The first plane in the series, the X-43A, was a single-use vehicle. Three of them were built.
The first was destroyed after malfunctioning in flight; the other two flew successfully, with the scramjet operating for approximately 10 seconds, followed by a 10-minute glide and intentional crash into the ocean.