Aircraft

TRIAL Australia has conducted the first flight test of an inward-turning scramjet engine, which reached Mach 10 on re-entry following a rocket launch from Woomera range.

The launch was part of a joint programme between Australia's Defence Science & Technology Organisation and the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency under the Australian Hypersonics Initiative.

Data from the 15 June flight will be compared with results from ground tests of the same engine in the USA. Compared with previous designs, an inward-turning scramjet has a more-efficient axisymmetric flowpath.