Technology Uses Current Technology And Fuel
Alliant Techsystems announced this week it successfully
completed testing for a new class of hypersonic propulsion systems
that will enable High Speed Strike Weapons and Unmanned Aerial
Vehicles to travel long distances at velocities more than five
times the speed of sound.
The most recent tests involved flight-weight, fuel-cooled
Thermally Throated RamJet (TTRJ) technology built with conventional
materials and manufacturing processes, and burning
readily-available JP-10 jet fuel. This long-duration testing was
funded by the US Air Force and conducted at ATK's Ronkonkoma, NY
facility.
This latest test series incorporates lessons learned during the
design, manufacture and testing that has been conducted over the
last three years. The resultant ALRJ-51-4 configuration has been
further simplified over previous builds and has already
demonstrated performance levels meeting or exceeding requirements.
In this test series, ATK ran the fuel-cooled hardware through
multiple two-minute long test periods to demonstrate full thermal
equilibrium, thus ensuring all durability requirements can be met
for both single-use and reusable flight systems. The flight-weight
engine components have now accumulated more than 44 minutes of hot
operating time.
After being launched from an aircraft or from the surface, the
TTRJ-powered vehicle would be rocket-boosted to high speed,
enabling the ramjet to ignite. In previous testing, the ATK engine
demonstrated ignition at Mach 3 conditions and robust operability
up through Mach 5.5.
"ATK continues to develop critical hardware and components for
hypersonic propulsion systems with a focus on reliability,
affordability, and low-risk," said Bart Olson, Vice President and
General Manager, ATK Tactical Propulsion and Controls. "These
systems will be integral to the development of high-speed strike
weapons for the Department of Defense."
The
ALRJ-51-4 combustor is sized to fit the USAF X-51B flight test
vehicle developed by ATK and Boeing. The team completed a
Preliminary Design Review in 2007, which indicated a good match
between the engine and air vehicle.
Due to the engine's light weight, volumetric efficiency and
minimal subsystems requirements, integration into the X-51 airframe
frees up vehicle volume for fuel, payload and potentially a
recovery system. The resulting configuration presents a direct path
toward a robust weapon technology demonstrator leading to a
near-term operational, high speed strike weapon concept with the
ability to traverse over 500 nautical miles in 10 minutes.
The ALRJ-51-4 combustor hardware is currently being integrated
with an X-51B inlet and nozzle system to prepare for integrated
engine testing this year.