The Need for Speed
How Hypersonics is Advancing Flight and Weapons
Last week, the Defense Innovation Unit announced that it had selected an Australian company to help build a vehicle to test hypersonic capabilities.
Hypersonic technology seems to be all the rage right now, but what is it?
Hypersonics is an emerging field of technology that deals with the study of high-speed flight and the development of vehicles that can travel at speeds greater than five times the speed of sound.
What are Hypersonics?
Hypersonics is the study of the behavior of materials and vehicles that move at speeds higher than Mach 5. Mach is a unit of speed that refers to the ratio of the speed of an object to the speed of sound. At Mach 1, the speed of sound, the pressure wave produced by an object moving through the air travels at the same speed as the object. When an object exceeds Mach 1, it generates a shock wave that creates sonic booms.
Hypersonic vehicles travel at very high speeds, which generate temperatures up to thousands of degrees Celsius, making it challenging to maintain their structural integrity. Scientists and engineers are researching various materials and designs to develop vehicles that can withstand these temperatures and pressures.
Vehicles usually use one of two methods to achieve hypersonic flight:
Hypersonic glide - Technologies focused on glide involves launching a vehicle at a high altitude on a ballistic trajectory, after which the vehicle re-enters the atmosphere and uses its shape and materials to generate lift and maneuver through the air at hypersonic speeds. The vehicle typically has a blunt, heat-resistant nose and an aerodynamic shape that helps it glide through the atmosphere. Hypersonic glide vehicles are often used for military purposes, such as delivering precision strikes and can travel up to Mach 20.
Scramjet technology - These technologies generally involve using a supersonic combustion engine to power a vehicle at hypersonic speeds. Scramjet engines use the high speed of the vehicle to compress incoming air and mix it with fuel, which is then ignited and expelled out the back of the engine at high velocity. This allows the vehicle to sustain hypersonic speeds for longer periods of time, potentially even reaching orbit.
History of Hypersonics
The study hypseronics dates back to the late 1940s when the United States and the Soviet Union began developing rockets to reach the upper atomsphere and beyond. During the Cold War, both countries invested heavily in hypersonic research and development as part of their strategic defense programs.
In the 1960s, the U.S. Air Force began funding the development of hypersonic vehicles to explore potential military applications. The X-15 rocket plane, which made its first flight in 1959, was a crucial component of this effort. The X-15 was a rocket-powered aircraft that could research speeds of up to Mach 6.7 (that’s 5, 140.7 mph or over 8,000 kph) and altitudes of over 67 mile (108 km—past the Karman line and into space).
Applications in Defense
Hypersonic technology has several potential military applications, including intelligence gathering, surveillance, and strike missions. Hypersonic vehicles can travel at high speeds and low altitudes making them difficult to detect by radar systems. They can also penetrate heavily defended airspace and strike targets with great accuracy and speed.
In recent years, several countries, including the United States, Russia, and China have invested heavily in the development of hypersonic technology as part of their military modernization programs. The race to develop hypersonic weapons has led to concerns about a new arms race and increased tensions between nations.
Some Promising Companies in Hypersonics
Several companies are working on developing hypersonic technology, including the Primes:
Lockheed Martin: Lockheed Martin is a U.S.-based aerospace and defense company that is developing several hypersonic vehicles for the U.S. military, including the Conventional Prompt Strike (supporting the U.S. Army and Navy), along with the Air-Launched Rapid Response Weapon (ARRW) and Long-Range Hypersonic Weapon. Lockheed Martin seems to favor glide-type systems, which makes sense as they’re focused on weapons.
Boeing: Boeing is an American multinational corporation that is developing the X-51A WaveRider, a hypersonic vehicle that can travel at speeds of up to Mach 6.
Northrop Grumman: Northrop Grumman is an American global aerospace and defense technology company that is testing ScramJet and Glide type hypersonic systems.
Additionally, there are many other smaller companies that are advancing the state of the technology, such as:
Hermeus: Hermeus is an Atlanta-based aerospace company focused on developing hypersonic aircraft based on a turbine-based combined cycle (TBCC) engine, dubbed Chimera, which combines elements of a turbo jet and a ramjet allowing flight at both lower and higher speeds.
Reaction Engines: Reaction Engines is a British aerospace manufacturer that is developing the SABRE engine, a hybrid engine that can switch between air-breathing and rocket propulsion, enabling hypersonic flight.
Boom Technology: Boom Technology is an American company designing a Mach 1.7, 65-88 passenger supersonic airliner, known as the Overture. This lower speed is not a hypersonic, but their contributions to the field of high-speed travel cannot be ignored.
Venus Aerospace: Venus Aerospace is a Texas-based aerospace company focused on three core technologies: zero-emission next-generation rocket engine, innovative aircraft shape, and leading-edge cooling. These technologies will enable its Stargazer vehicle, aiming for Mach 9 travel.
Hypersonix Launch Systems: Hypersonix is an Australian space startup developing scramjet and scramjet based technology, with a focus on green-fuelled systems. Notably, the U.S. Defense Innovation Unit awarded a contract last week to Hypersonix to develop a vehicle supporting the High-Cadence Airborne Testing Capabilities (HyCAT) program.
Destinus: Destinus is a Swiss company developing a hypersonic glide vehicle for passenger and cargo flights. Destinus also plans to use a hydrogen-based engine for its vehicles.
Conclusion
Hypersonic technology is an exciting field that has the potential to revolutionize the way we travel and conduct military operations. The development of hypersonic vehicles presents several challenges, including the need to develop materials that can withstand extreme temperatures and pressures. Despite these challenges, several companies and countries are investing heavily in hypersonic research and development, making it a field to watch in the coming years.
If you’re building a hypersonic system, please reach out to me and let me know! And, of course,
Keep building!
Andrew