Skyrockets in flight, hypersonic delight
TULLAHOMA, Tenn. — Aerojet Rocketdyne, teaming with the Air Force Research Laboratory, achieved record levels of thrust by a a scramjet engine during a successful series of hot-fire tests of an advanced hypersonic engine under the Air Force’s Medium Scale Critical Components program. The tests were recently conducted here at Arnold Air Force Base, according to company officials.
“Our scramjet engine powered the United States Air Force X-51A Waverider when it made history in 2010 by completing the longest air-breathing hypersonic flight ever and we continue to propel the technology,” said Eileen P. Drake, Aerojet Rocketdyne CEO and president, in a news release.
Aerojet Rocketdyne conducts its work and research in several different facilities, including Engineering, Manufacturing &i; Development in Camden, Arkansas; Advanced Manufacturing Facility in Huntsville, Alabama; and its 3D Materials Technologies facility in Daytona Beach, Florida.
The 18-foot scramjet engine produced record levels of thrust, in excess of 13,000 lbs. The engine was tested with firings lasting more than an hour of sustained combustion at several hypersonic flight conditions, over a whole range of Mach numbers, demonstrating performance in accelerating the vehicle to hypersonic speeds.
“Aerojet Rocketdyne is a leader in advanced hypersonic propulsion,” Spokesperson Eileen M. Lainez, told the Texarkana Gazette on Thursday. “We have more that 40 years of hypersonic technology research and test experience, including the world’s first hydrocarbon fueled and cooled scramjet flight successes on the X-51A Waverider Engine Demonstrator program.”