Posted on 03/17/2009 10:43:12 AM PDT by BenLurkin
Alliant Techsystems (NYSE: ATK - News) announced today that 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 U.S. Air Force and conducted at ATK's Ronkonkoma, N.Y. 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."
(Excerpt) Read more at biz.yahoo.com ...
ping
Hmmm.... They mentioned JP-10, it isn’t often mentioned....
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