Chinese Hypersonic Ramjet Triples Missile Range!Ramjet Engine Schematic Diagram

Chinese hypersonic ramjet triples missile range!Ramjet engine schematic diagram

China's new hypersonic ramjet engine will triple the range of air-to-air missiles.Recently, Australian news network and many foreign media broke this big news.According to Australian media, the hypersonic air-to-air missile can reach a range of 320 kilometers and the j-20 can carry six of them.However, Chinese military experts said the news could have mistaken a recently successfully tested solid ramjet for a scramjet.

Details of the j-20's in-flight opening of the bomb bay were revealed

China aerospace science and technology corporation (CASC) has announced that it has successfully developed a hypersonic ramjet engine after a series of test flights, news.com.cn reported.The revolutionary engine is said to be ready for use with a new generation of air-to-air missiles.The report said the missile must travel at more than 6,200 kilometers per hour to meet the "hypersonic" requirement.None of the existing defences can defend against missiles flying at this speed.

China chose to focus on solid-fuel engines because they are more stable and do not require a complex and time-consuming refueling process, the report said.This means the weapon will be "on call" and can be deployed quickly.Ramjet engines burn by getting oxygen from the atmosphere without carrying too much oxidiser, which reduces their weight significantly or increases their range by the same amount.And the rate at which oxygen is absorbed can be controlled by the amount of air a ramjet can take in.

A similar stamping research program at the defense advanced research projects agency (DARPA) appears to have stalled after a test in 2015, the article said.The focus is on a new "small advanced capability missile" that is unlikely to appear before the 2030s.

China has reportedly been developing reliable solid-fuel ramjet engines since 2000.The super-fast engine, when combined with existing missiles, could triple the missile's range.Existing weapons with a range of 100 km can reach 320 km.China's new generation of j-20 and j-31 stealth fighters can carry up to six of these missiles in their weapon pods.The ultra-high speed and agility of ramjet missiles also puts more maneuverable fighters at risk, the article said.It theoretically extends the "inescapable zone", "where enemy fighters have no reaction time, speed or maneuverability to avoid incoming missiles".

However, Chinese military experts interviewed by the global times said foreign media reports may have confused solid ramjet engines with scramjet engines.According to the expert, the most recently developed solid ramjet engine in China is not scramjet.The former is a bit slower, difficult to reach hypersonic speeds, and less technically difficult than the latter.But even a solid ramjet can greatly extend the range of an air-to-air missile, but a missile of the same size probably cannot increase its range by three times.Experts say there is no scramjet engine for an air-to-air missile.

Scramjet: the key to the hypersonic world

A full

This refers to a ramjet engine in which fuel is burned in a supersonic flow. Currently, all aviation engines burn fuel in a subsonic flow.

The use of supersonic combustion can reduce the loss of airflow compression and expansion, reduce airflow temperature and pressure, and reduce the structural load of the engine.

Using liquid hydrogen or hydrocarbon fuel, it can operate in the Mach range of 6-25 and can fly to the edge of the atmosphere (50-60 km).

Compared with rocket engines, this kind of engine does not need its own oxidant, which greatly increases the payload, and can be used as the power unit for hypersonic cruise missiles, hypersonic aircraft, trans-atmosphere aircraft, reusable space launchers and single-stage space aircraft in orbit.

Scramjet combustion is divided into diffusion combustion (fuel and oxidant are mixed while burning) and knock combustion (fuel and oxidant are mixed before burning).

Ramjet engine schematic diagram

According to the flow mode is divided into internal combustion and external combustion.

The typical types are: semis/supercombustion dual-mode scramjet, semis/supercombustion dual-chamber scramjet, scramjet integrated with aircraft body, combined scramjet, etc.

As early as the 1950s, foreign countries began to invest a lot of manpower and material resources in the research of scramjet.Since the 1990s, the research focus of scramjet has shifted to the high-speed cruise missile engine.

Currently, the United States, France, Russia, Canada, Germany, India, Italy and other countries are developing scramjet engines for cruise missiles with Mach 4~8, hydrocarbon fuel and a range of more than 1000km.

Russia leads the world in the development of scramjet engines.In 1991, the first flight test of the semi-combustible/supercombustible dual-mode ramjet engine was carried out in Russia.

Sponsored by NASA, the United States carried out the x-30 "national air and space aircraft (NASP)" program from 1986 to 1994, and conducted the concept study, program design, mechanism study, model test and numerical simulation of the air and space aircraft.

From 1995 to 2002, based on the NASP program, NASA carried out the x-43a "hypersonic X" program, which carried out the downsized model, flight test and flight test of the superfuel engine of the space plane.Three test machines were built before and after, and the aircraft was about 3.6 meters long.

The first flight took place in June 2001. It took off on board a b-52 and accelerated to Mach 3 using an improved pegasus rocket.

Figure, X - 43 a

The U.S. air force has been implementing the HyTech program since 1995, which targets single-use or reusable hypersonic military aircraft.The missile has a Mach number of 4~8 and a range of 1400km. The engine is a dual-mode ram engine using liquid hydrocarbon fuel.

Starting in 2001, the defense advanced research projects agency (DARPA) and the navy jointly launched the HyFly, a four-year program aimed at developing cruise missiles with a maximum cruising Mach number of 6 and a range of 1110km, powered by superscramjet engines that run on ordinary hydrocarbon fuel.

Ground tests in various flight states (Mach 6.5, 3.5 and 4) are currently under way and flight tests were completed in 2005.

France began the research of liquid hydrocarbon superscramjet engine in 1985.

FIG. X-43a after ignition

In 1992, the French government formulated the hypersonic scramjet research program, the PREPHA program, which aims to verify the performance of the m4-8 scramjet through ground tests.

The six-year project has been tested at the speed of the M6.In 1999, the French arms procurement agency decided to extend the PREPHA research work and began a five-year PROMETHEE research programme aimed at exploring the feasibility of using the hydrocarbon fuel, the seminear/superfuel dual-mode ramjet engine as an air-launched missile power.

The program will study the M1.8~8 variable geometry Asiatic/superfuel dual-mode ramjet technology.Currently, testing of M7.5 has been completed and a full-scale model design is underway.

In 1995, France and Russia began to jointly develop M3~12 reusable launcher (RLV) and space vehicle dual-fuel (kerosene, hydrogen), dual-mode scramjet engine (WRR).The first trial began in 2000.

Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation of the x-43a testing machine at Mach 7

The university of Queensland, Australia, has led an international collaboration since 1999 for the HyShot project, a hydrogen-fueled scramjet flight test program.In July 2002, HyShot successfully achieved supersonic combustion during its flight test, with a Mach number of 7.6.The United States, Australia, Germany, South Korea, Britain and Japan are involved.

Japan began to study scramjet technology in 1984, and has built a hypersonic free jet test bed capable of simulating flight altitude of 35km and flight speed of M8, and conducted a large number of simulation tests of high Mach number.Currently, Japan has a plan for a scramjet powered single-stage in-orbit space aircraft (SSO), a manned civilian aircraft capable of taking off and landing with a capacity of 10 people, just like regular aircraft.

In addition, Germany and India have also done a lot of fundamental research on scramjet technology.The Indian ministry of defence is implementing the advanced aspirated transatmospheric vehicle (AVATAR) programme, which will be powered by a turbofan/scramjet combination.

A concept of supersonic airflow entering the engine and being accelerated to hypersonic speed

Key technologies and technical difficulties of scramjet mainly include:

(1) fuel injection, blending, ignition and combustion;

(2) combustion chamber design and test technology;

(3) integrated design of engine and body (missile body);

(4) high-temperature resistant material and heat-absorbing fuel.

New engine to make j-20 combat force multiplication?The new generation of missiles made it impossible for enemy planes to evade

China's new hypersonic ramjet engine will triple the range of air-to-air missiles, foreign media reported.China aerospace science and technology corporation (CASC) has announced that it has successfully developed a hypersonic ramjet engine after a series of test flights.The revolutionary engine is now ready for use with a new generation of air-to-air missiles.The report said the missile must travel at more than 6,200 kilometers per hour to meet the "hypersonic" requirement.None of the existing defences can defend against missiles flying at this speed.The hypersonic air-to-air missile has a range of up to 320 kilometers and the j-20 can carry six of them.However, Chinese military experts said the news could have mistaken a recently successfully tested solid ramjet for a scramjet.

However, military experts believe that foreign media reports may confuse the solid ramjet and scramjet.According to the expert, the most recently developed solid ramjet engine in China is not scramjet.The former is a bit slower, difficult to reach hypersonic speeds, and less technically difficult than the latter.But even a solid ramjet can greatly extend the range of an air-to-air missile, but a missile of the same size probably cannot increase its range by three times.Experts say there is no scramjet engine for an air-to-air missile