Related Sections: Future Tech Military Vehicles
Scramjet-powered planes (and missiles) may be closer than you think
The race to build a working and dependable scramjet is happening all the world over — the United States, China, Australia and who knows who else all want one. DARPA's HTV-3X, also known as Blackswift, is an unmanned scramjet-powered plane that may take to the skies as soon as 2012, hitting speeds of up to Mach 6. Why the rush? Planes flying with scramjet engines would be able to fly from New York to Tokyo in two hours. Certainly more enticing to the nations of the world, a missile using a scramjet would be able to hit any target anywhere on the globe in a handful of minutes.
The fastest jet at the moment is the SR-71 Blackbird, which tops out at Mach 3.3. Scramjet engines have been tested at speeds of anywhere between Mach 6 and Mach 15. This amount of crazy acceleration is possible by sucking in air through the front of the engine, squeezing it into the thin sleeves of the combustion chambers until it superheats and subsequently igniting the fuel and generating thrust.
Via PopSci
By Garth at 2:14 PM ON 12/15/07
Wow this is bullet to hit Russians.
By bbenefiel at 3:11 AM ON 12/17/07
Heck forget the military what about scramjet commercial airline. Would be nice to see a correlation of fuel consumption between current tech and the new.
By Tom at 3:22 AM ON 12/20/07
"The fastest jet at the moment is the SR-71 Blackbird"
Um, wrong... this plane is retired! I would think the military is a few steps ahead of commercial or public projects.
From Wikipedia: "The SR-71 line was in service from 1964 to 1998"
By Ethereal at 7:34 AM ON 12/20/07
Tom....you ignoramus....NASA still uses them for research.
By Pictou at 8:51 AM ON 12/20/07
These articles need more technical details. How do you get the scramjet powered aircraft moving fast enough to start the scramjet? I suspect that this thing needs to be going at mach 1+ speeds before it will work at all. No standing start runway takeoff for this beast.
By moviedemon at 9:07 AM ON 12/20/07
Tom,
The SR-71 Blackbird is "retired" only because it is obsolete for the purpose for which it was originally designed. The SR-71 was used for high-altitude photography- now we use satellites. It has nothing to do with the SR-71's speed. It is still the fastest jet on the planet- at least as far as anyone knows. The article mentions that it tops out at Mach 3.3, but even that is uncertain, since its top speed is still classified.
By crichtonx at 9:32 AM ON 12/20/07
The CIA stop using the SR-71 due to advanced satellite tech. Currently, NASA still utilizes the SR-71 due to that to date, it is the fastest air-breathing, manned vehicle at Mach 3.2.
The scramjet needs a boost of initial operating velocity of at least Mach 4 from conventional engines or rockets before its' tech is initiated to produce speeds of excess of Mach 5+. Which makes it practical in our conventional tech.
By aerospaced at 12:00 PM ON 12/20/07
OOOO, Tom, sorry to dissapoint you. We are still using the SR-71 for high altitude tests. The military did retire thier use of it, but not NASA or Aimes research.
By fireatwill25 at 1:50 AM ON 12/22/07
If people complain at the noise of a regular jets flying overhead with the sonic booms, won't the public outcry be louder? Although, it will mostly be at a higher altitudes. Just a thought.
By krazyk at 12:14 PM ON 01/02/08
well most of you guys are correct th sr-71 was retired but it was brought back for the gulf wars since and i quote "sattelites are scheduled by god and kepler" also with the latest technical upgrades the speed is probably closer to mach 4 and there is always the aorura project abd bill sweetman.
By Sparky at 6:21 AM ON 01/13/08
"The SR-71 last flight took place in October 1999."
http://www.nasa.gov/centers/dryden/news/FactSheets/FS-030-DFRC.html
By 9sholmes at 2:23 AM ON 03/28/08
Is the SR-71 exactly like the unman plane used in the move Stealth?
By Eyedoll at 9:27 AM ON 05/18/08
Nothing currently is exactly like the unmanned plane used in the movie Stealth. Current unmaned planes are remotely controlled and/or given waypoints to go. They don't have advanced AI.
By UCHIHALEADER at 10:23 AM ON 05/23/08
ON THE HISTORY CHANNEL, THEY SAID THE SR-71 BLACKBIRD CAN TRAVEL FROM NEW YORK TO LONDON IN LESS THAN 2 HOURS!
By Bharat Sharma at 3:08 AM ON 06/01/08
Excellent prospects from all angles. More technical details would be welcome.
By josh at 4:09 AM ON 02/25/09
yhe sr-71 was taken out of service because of satalites but nasa dose use them for other things
they still hold the recored because there is no need to develop a faster plane.
By Tweeker at 12:59 PM ON 05/18/09
There is always the pumkin seed and mothership angle...
Mothership gets it to speed then orr she goes. Or maybe they'd have some kind of drop engine pod the gets them there...then ~wooosh!~
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Tweeker:
There is always the pumkin seed and mothership angle... Mothership gets it to speed then orr she goes. Or maybe th...More »