Aviation Week & Space Technology, 04/03/2006, page 32
Douglas Barrie, London
Latest British scramjet test paves way for advanced weapons propulsion R&D
British defense scientists could have to wait up to three months to find out if they have achieved a key element of developing scramjet propulsion--stable and sustained combustion.
A prototype scramjet engine designed by defense technology company Qinetiq was launched successfully on Mar. 25. Good telemetry was received during the Hyshot III test launch (see photo), and this will now be studied in detail to determine whether stable combustion was achieved during the critical 5-6-sec. phase of the flight when scramjet ignition was to occur.
"We should know from the data fairly quickly whether combustion took place, but the really detailed analysis will take longer. The quality of the data also depends on how many of the transducers were working during the trial."
The Hyshot III test, funded by the British Defense Ministry, will feed into the Sustained Hypersonic Flight Experiment (SHYFE). This is aimed at looking at the potential for developing technology applicable to a hypersonic cruise missile. The SHYFE program will culminate in a test flight in late 2007. The 1.5-meter (4.9-ft.) demonstrator airframe will be boosted to around Mach 4 at an altitude of 15,000 meters, where scramjet ignition will occur. The airframe will then be accelerated by the scramjet engine to a speed of Mach 6 and an altitude of 32,000 meters. It will then cruise for 300 km. (186 mi.) until it runs out of fuel, making an "uncontrolled descent." Hydrogen is used as the scramjet fuel.
Alongside working on pure scramjet configurations, Qinetiq is also carrying out collaborative research with academia into a dual-mode, ramjet-scramjet engine design.
The Hyshot III test was carried out using the Woomera range in Australia, working with the University of Queensland. A further launch, Hyshot IV, was carried out on behalf of the Japanese space agency on Mar. 30. This test is part of Japan's interest in using scramjets for a multistage orbital launch system. Hyshot uses a Terrier-Orion Mk. 70 rocket as the boost vehicle. The Qinetiq test saw the rocket launched to an altitude of 314 km. The scramjet and the Orion motor body are then reoriented toward the atmosphere with the scramjet engine run occurring in a 6-sec. window shortly before impact.
The British Defense Ministry is interested in a high-speed cruise missile as a candidate weapon system for use against high-value, time-critical targets. Such a system could also be considered as an outside option for strategic applications.