Posted on 09/26/2025 11:34:48 PM PDT by Jonty30
What has zero moving parts, yet can blast an aerial vehicle to velocities beyond Mach 5? The answer is the recently flight-tested Atmospheric Test of Launched Airbreathing System (ATLAS) powered by a new solid-fueled ramjet built by GE Aerospace.
Hypersonic missiles capable of flying well in excess of five times the speed of sound promise to revolutionize warfare and aviation in general in a manner not seen since the sound barrier was broken in 1947. Not only could it turn flights from London to Sydney into an afternoon jaunt instead of a 22-plus-hour ordeal, it could also make current air defenses obsolete as vehicles blast by before defenders would even detect them.
The tricky bit is how to get the vehicle into the hypersonic range where it can cruise under its own power or fly as a Mach 5+ glider. For the ATLAS program, GE Aerospace has come up with the latest in Solid-Fuel Ramjet (SFRJ) technology that seems to operate almost by magic.
(Excerpt) Read more at newatlas.com ...
Here is what the engine looked like when I was playing with it as a boy.
http://archivesite.jetex.org/motors/motors-50.html#exportBC
“It must be those single crystal blades that China still hasn’t mastered in its jet engine programs.”
I don’t think that is the case, anymore.
Which isn’t surprising since China is one of the major manufacturers of vacuum furnaces which are used for that.
https://www.cysi.wang/about-us/
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