The Feitian-1 hypersonic vehicle, developed by the School of Aeronautics and Astronautics of Chinese University, successfully launched at a base in northwestern China, demonstrating for the first time to the world an operational kerosene combined ramjet rocket engine. which combined the characteristics of rocket and ‘breathing’ hypersonic engines, providing flight in a different speed range, more than Mach 5. which allows for efficient operation in every phase of flight and expanding the flight envelope of future Chinese hypersonic vehicle.
As written by Lia Wong, the test vehicle
appears to be a wave rider design, optimized to generate lift from the
shockwaves it generates at high Mach numbers for flight, similar to the Boeing
X-51 research vehicle previously used by the U.S. Air Force. Owing to the
ramjet engine’s lack of need to carry oxygen, the Feitian-1 and future Chinese
systems developed from Feitian’s technology are more lightweight than current
boost-glide weapon systems such as the USAF’s AGM-183 ARRW, allowing more room
for fuel or a larger payload to be carried, increasing the vehicle’s lethality.
China’s hypersonic projects are secretive, and it is unknown if the scramjet engine from the Feitian-1 vehicle or some other project will be used.
The Chinese aim to finish its test by 2025, leading to the development of a full-sized hypersonic aircraft capable of transporting ten passengers more than 6,000km at Mach 6. The information comes from the project scientist Yin Zeyong’s paper published in Acta Aeronautica et Astronautica Sinica, a peer-reviewed journal published by the China Society of Aeronautics and Astronautics.
The transforming engine, designed to
widen the vehicle’s flight envelope, may also allow the vehicle to fly under
its own power sooner after launch, with this reduced need for power and size
from the initial booster, we may also see the pre-launch cost reduce and the
scaling up of hypersonic missile production within China.
Current developing turbo-ramjets promise
to bring many more advancements to the table, such as zero-speed start, even
higher efficiency, longer range and reusability, Lia Wong writes. At these
missiles’ operational speeds, there is often little time for an adversary to
detect and intercept. Potentially nuclear-armed, an adversary which lacks an
equally advanced defense system could face catastrophic results, Lia Wong
comments. With Japan and South Korea developing their own hypersonic
weapons and the U.S. Navy planning to install hypersonic missiles on its’ three
Zumwalt-class destroyers, further research into hypersonic weaponry by Chinese
regional powers is sure to continue.
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