The US Navy will focus in 2020 on developing hypersonic weapons at breakneck speed and will have hypersonic weapon tests through the year according to the Acting Secretary of the Navy, Thomas Modly. In 2018, Russia claimed to have already deployed hypersonic missile systems. The US Navy plans to demonstrate the Navy-designed Hypersonic Glide Body. …
Reaction Engines has successfully tested its innovative precooler at airflow temperature conditions representing Mach 5, or five times the speed of sound, marking a significant milestone in the development of its SABRE™ engine and paving the way for a revolution in hypersonic flight and space access. The precooler heat exchanger is a vital component of …
The US is increasing hypersonic weapon investment in 2020 to $2.6 billion. The UK has a $12 million contract with Rolls-Royce to develop high-Mach aircraft propulsion systems. Russia has the Avangard and the 3M22 Tsirkon (aka Zircon)—and has reportedly fielded the Kh-47M2 Kinzhal (“Dagger”), a maneuvering air-launched ballistic missile. The US believes the Avangard will …
Startup First Light Fusion (FLF) claims it is on target to achieve fusion gain (more energy out than goes in) by 2024. They are not using lasers or intense magnetic fields which can prove to be very complicated and costly to build. Pulsed power is their main technology. They hope to have reduced the cost …
Raytheon and Northrop Grumman are developing 3D printed engines for smaller hypersonic missiles that could be deployed in at lower cost in swarms. The air-breathing scramjet will use regular aviation fuel. Northrop Grumman has new materials and technology to 3-D print the entire engine (the combustor). 3D Printing will make construction faster and significantly less …
Hypersonic missiles and weapons development are technology to future-proof weapons against surprise developments in defense capability.
Sandia has improved hypersonic turbulence modeling. This will lead to better hypersonic vehicle design.
World War 3 Wargame Shows High Losses and Logistic Gap
DARPA has scheduled the first test of a new advanced hypersonic glide weapon interceptor defense for 2020.
Reaction Engines is working towards air-breathing space planes and hypersonic airplanes. They have successfully tested their critical pre-cooler technology at the temperature conditions it would experience at 3.3 times the speed of sound. The pre-cooler quickly drops the temperature of the air so that the engines for a space plane or hypersonic vehicle would not …
China is working on magnetized plasma artillery which could enable hypersonic projectiles from a tank. This technology is different than railguns. China has started testing railguns on large navy ships. This technology could be ten to one hundred times smaller to fit onto a tank. The plasma cannon will have magnetic material covering the gun …
