The world's fastest air-breathing engine will fly in Australia in 2005 in a collaborative two-nation experiment that is expected to provide a major boost to the fledgling scramjet technology.
Australian and US defence interests have signed a $4.6 million contract to conduct a controlled scramjet experiment at Mach 10, or about 11,000km an hour, at Woomera, SA, possibly in the second half of next year.
Two years ago the University of Queensland became the first to test a scramjet engine successfully in flight in its HyShot experiment at Woomera.
Scramjets are air-breathing supersonic combustion ramjet engines. They are set to make possible two-hour flights from Sydney to London and revolutionise the launch of small space payloads, such as communications satellites, by substantially lowering costs.
Partners in the new project are the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and the Australian Hypersonics Initiative (AHI) represented by DSTO, the University of Queensland, the University of New South Wales at the Australian Defence Force Academy, and the Australian National University, together with the State Governments of South Australia and Queensland.
Dr Warren Harch, Chief of DSTO's Weapons Systems Division, said future defence applications for hypersonic vehicles include long-range reconnaissance of potentially global proportions, while civilian applications include low-cost satellite launching and high-speed aircraft.
"Hypersonic propulsion using supersonic combustion ramjet (scramjet) technology offers the possibility of high speeds and fuel efficiencies that many believe will put numerous defence and civilian aerospace applications within our reach during the next couple of decades," Dr Harch added.
Professor Allan Paull, of The University of Queensland's Centre for Hypersonics, is the technical lead for the Australian Hypersonics Initiative. He said that Australia has established an international standing in hypersonics research.
"Australia's reputation has been built up over three decades of scramjet research," Professor Paull said.
University of Queensland Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) Professor David Siddle, said UQ had been at the forefront of scramjet technology development. "UQ led the international HyShot program which demonstrated the world's first supersonic combustion in an atmospheric flight test at Woomera on July 30, 2002, at speeds of more than Mach 8, or 8 times the speed of sound," he said.
Further interest in scramjet technology was fuelled in March this year when NASA flew its X-43A scramjet-powered aircraft freely for the first time at a speed of Mach 7 over the Pacific Ocean.
Next year's atmospheric flight experiment in Australia will be similar to HyShot. The project will include a large element of collaboration with a consortium of US universities; hence the project is being referred to as HYCAUSE, derived from Hypersonic Collaborative Australian/United States Experiment.
The AHI was primarily established to promote a collaborative approach to research into scramjet propulsion technologies, and to facilitate an Australian position when it comes to working with international agencies.
http://www.yaffa.com.au/defence/current/7-8.htm
Australian and US defence interests have signed a $4.6 million contract to conduct a controlled scramjet experiment at Mach 10, or about 11,000km an hour, at Woomera, SA, possibly in the second half of next year.
Two years ago the University of Queensland became the first to test a scramjet engine successfully in flight in its HyShot experiment at Woomera.
Scramjets are air-breathing supersonic combustion ramjet engines. They are set to make possible two-hour flights from Sydney to London and revolutionise the launch of small space payloads, such as communications satellites, by substantially lowering costs.
Partners in the new project are the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and the Australian Hypersonics Initiative (AHI) represented by DSTO, the University of Queensland, the University of New South Wales at the Australian Defence Force Academy, and the Australian National University, together with the State Governments of South Australia and Queensland.
Dr Warren Harch, Chief of DSTO's Weapons Systems Division, said future defence applications for hypersonic vehicles include long-range reconnaissance of potentially global proportions, while civilian applications include low-cost satellite launching and high-speed aircraft.
"Hypersonic propulsion using supersonic combustion ramjet (scramjet) technology offers the possibility of high speeds and fuel efficiencies that many believe will put numerous defence and civilian aerospace applications within our reach during the next couple of decades," Dr Harch added.
Professor Allan Paull, of The University of Queensland's Centre for Hypersonics, is the technical lead for the Australian Hypersonics Initiative. He said that Australia has established an international standing in hypersonics research.
"Australia's reputation has been built up over three decades of scramjet research," Professor Paull said.
University of Queensland Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) Professor David Siddle, said UQ had been at the forefront of scramjet technology development. "UQ led the international HyShot program which demonstrated the world's first supersonic combustion in an atmospheric flight test at Woomera on July 30, 2002, at speeds of more than Mach 8, or 8 times the speed of sound," he said.
Further interest in scramjet technology was fuelled in March this year when NASA flew its X-43A scramjet-powered aircraft freely for the first time at a speed of Mach 7 over the Pacific Ocean.
Next year's atmospheric flight experiment in Australia will be similar to HyShot. The project will include a large element of collaboration with a consortium of US universities; hence the project is being referred to as HYCAUSE, derived from Hypersonic Collaborative Australian/United States Experiment.
The AHI was primarily established to promote a collaborative approach to research into scramjet propulsion technologies, and to facilitate an Australian position when it comes to working with international agencies.
http://www.yaffa.com.au/defence/current/7-8.htm