China's next-generation weapons and aircraft are set to have greater speed, increased manoeuvrability and range, thanks to a recent propulsion breakthrough made by Beijing's scientists.
According to a SCMP report, research team at the Beihang University of Beijing developed a secondary combustion technique that is expected to double thrust of a scramjet engine that can operate at supersonic speeds.
The breakthrough comes even as US is set to field its first Long-Range Hypersonic Weapon System by this year. There were also reports that said hypersonic missile technology, including both hardware and software, were sould to Chinese Chinese military research groups working on hypersonic capabilities.
The SCMP report said this is done by "injecting magnesium powder into the exhaust gases from conventional jet fuel combustion."
In a peer-reviewed journal, Acta Aeronautica, the lead scientist of the team Yang Qingchun wrote that "magnesium particles react explosively with the waste gases already inside the engine, releasing energy that was once thrown away."
The SCMP report said the afterburner, which was tested under conditions simulating Mach 6 flight at an altitude of 30km, is set to enhance China’s lead in hypersonic technology.
As magnesium thrives on “waste” gases, and according to the researchers, "liquid kerosene first cools engine walls via regenerative cooling, while magnesium, added downstream, combusts in a supersonic “firestorm” stabilised by twin cavities and optimised flow paths."
This would enable the "hypersonic aircraft to use every drop of jet fuel as a coolant to reduce the temperature on its surface, achieving efficiency unmatched by other designs," the SCMP report read.
