Hypersonic flight will be the next fundamental advantage in aviation.

Hypersonic flight is the key to the next-generation missiles and aircraft as well as space shuttles in civil and military sectors. Aircraft that can jump outside the atmosphere and then return can be the next-generation solutions. There are rocket-based hypersonic missiles already in use. But the Scramjet-powered systems are new. 

Hypersonic missiles can launch from aircraft or by using a rocket. They can equip with powerful microwave systems that can damage electronics or even melt targets. 

Launching those weapons from aircraft is similar to a regular cruise or air-launch ballistic missile. If the weapon is shot by using a ground-based rocket the process is a little bit different. The rocket will jump outside the atmosphere. And then the hypersonic missile can get enough speed. That the scramjet engine can start. The scramjet or hypersonic ramjet-based systems can also launch from the regular runways. 

There are three versions of that kind of engine system. The first one is that the aircraft lifts off by using regular turbojets. Then when the speed is high enough the aircraft transfers to use the ramjet engine. And when the aircraft's speed rises to Mach seven or seven times higher than the speed of sound. It starts the fuel injection to the scramjet engine. 

The B-2 Stealth bomber over the Pacific. The hypersonic stealth bombers can be the most destructive systems ever created. (Image Wikipedia: Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit)

There are no moving parts in the scramjet engine. The airflow or the fuel-air mixture's friction causes heat. 

That heat ignites the fuel. Which can be liquid hydrogen. The liquid hydrogen can also decrease the temperature of the core of the engine and aircraft. 

And the problem with scramjet is that the speed of that engine must be over Mach 6 so that the scramjet can ignite the fuel.  Another version is to make the airflow through scramjet with extremely high speed. 

That thing can be happened by connecting the hypersonic wind tunnel behind the scramjet engine. That wind tunnel can pull the air through the scramjet, and the friction will engine the fuel. 

But there is the possibility to create the ion scramjet. The engine ionizes air at the front of it. And then the magnetic track will pull those ions back. The magnetic track requires electricity. That's why portable lightweight nuclear reactors are promising tools to give fuel supply for that kind of device. 

The hypersonic stealth bombers are the most capable systems in the military world. Those bombers can attack very fast on every side of Earth. The large-size hypersonic aircraft can also transport people and cargo all around the Earth very fast. And if the hypersonic engines use hydrogen as the fuel they have no carbon emission. 

https://www.defenseone.com/technology/2022/04/lockheed-martin-hopes-us-has-turned-corner-hypersonics/365631/

https://www.defenseone.com/business/2022/04/collins-aerospace-creates-group-make-hypersonic-weapons-next-generation-aircraft/365601/

https://eurasiantimes.com/us-aims-to-develop-next-gen-fighters-hypersonic-missiles-with-new/?amp

https://thepointsguy.com/news/fresh-investment-brings-the-hypersonic-flight-dream-closer-to-reality/

Image: https://www.defenseone.com/technology/2022/04/lockheed-martin-hopes-us-has-turned-corner-hypersonics/365631/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northrop_Grumman_B-2_Spirit

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramjet

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scramjet

https://artificialintelligenceandindividuals.blogspot.com/

How hypersonic missiles work?

Boeing X-51 Waverider  is typical HCM
(Hypersonic Cruise Missile) candidate
(Picture 1)

Kimmo Huosionmaa

Hypersonic missiles are the fastest man-made cruise missiles in the world. The function of those weapons is normally, that ballistic missile would take those weapons to the ballistic trajectory, what allows enough speed, that the hypersonic ramjets would be launched, and those motors would give this missile the speed of Mach 12. But there are many problems with those missiles and USAF X-51 "Waverider" failed, and it couldn't start it hydrogen scramjet-motors in 2012.


The hypersonic cruise missiles are new kind of weapon, what is extremely dangerous even without the nuclear warhead. The kinetic energy of those missiles is extremely high, and if that thing hits any target, would the result be devastating. Also, the defense against those weapons is extremely difficult because the angle of incoming missiles is so variable. The nuclear warhead is of course very devastating things, but the hypersonic missiles are devastating without explosives.


Many states have the similar projects, and the most devastating version of those missiles is the nuclear-powered missile, where the burning process of fuel has been replaced with the nuclear reactor. This missile has extremely high speed and because of its big size, this weapon can cause more destruction than any existed weapon ever before. The hypersonic speed allows using the pressure blast of those weapons as a weapon.


The hypersonic flight allows to use the pressure spire as the weapon, what might make the track anywhere this weapon flies. That would give this devastating cruise missile extreme devastating capacity. The big size nuclear-powered missile can use hydrogen or water as the fuel. In this solution, the fuel would be injected into the reactor, what would give very powerful specific impulse. This kind of nuclear ramjet is not very sharp about the propellant, and the idea of this motor is, that the propellant and high speed would also cool the reactor, while this missile will travel across the airspace.


But the problem of those weapons is radioactive fallout. The radiation of the reactor would change the material, what travels thru the reactor also radioactive. That's the very bad problem with nuclear-powered aircraft. In the Cold War were many projects, where were investigated the use of nuclear power in many roles like in automobiles and aircraft. The best way to use nuclear reactors in aircraft is to use closed-cycle reactors, where the reactor would use to rotate the turbines. And the propellant would be heated by using electric arc. This would not deliver radioactive fallout into the atmosphere. But this is the only rumor and those test planes are highly classified.

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear-powered_aircraft

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tupolev_Tu-95LAL

https://geopoliticalfutures.com/hypersonic-weapons-fit-future-war/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Timberwind

http://knkx.org/post/hypersonic-waverider-failed

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_X-51_Waverider

Picture 1:

https://img.newatlas.com/waverider-fourth-test.jpg?auto=format%2Ccompress&ch=Width%2CDPR&crop=entropy&fit=crop&h=347&q=60&w=616&s=2352e7434d7b1926023639a604c8a78c

https://crisisofdemocracticstates.blogspot.fi/

http://crisisofdemocracticstates.blogspot.fi/p/how-hypersonic-missiles-work.html