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Aviation History
1995
1995 - 1254.PDF
MILITARY AVIATION gramme. In the HP turbine area: "We are looking for more advanced cooling technolo gy, improved coatings, and better nickel alloy- based single crystal materials to bring turbine entry temperatures up to 2,100K", says Maunand, which he adds is "about 260K higher than it is for the M88". A decision on whether to run a core demonstrator will need agreement between the two companies, and will be crucial to whether the programme goes forward into the next century. Other factors will include the status of UK/French plans to collaborate on a future combat-aircraft programme. While both industrial partners and the UK Government have publicly backed die AMET programme, the French government has yet to publicly commit to it. This is in part because of the politics and the costs surround- Scramble to keep Ramjet alive At the more arcane end of military-power-plant research, ramjet propulsion remains under active consideration, although deployment timescales remain considerable. In Russia two long-term Mikoyan research programmes into high mach-num- ber combat aircraft have been cancelled. In the US programmes are continuing, albeit with funding on a tight rein. The USAF is continuing work with NASA on the High Mach Turbine Engine (HiMaTE), a combined-cycle air turbo ram jet (ATR) for MO-5 aircraft, and on hydro gen-fuelled supersonic combustion ramjets (scramjets) for M8-I2 vehicles. It is also seeking approval for a scaled- down hypersonic-technology (HyTECH) research programme focusing on hydrocar bon-fuelled supersonic-combustion ramjets (scramjets) for Mach 4-8 missiles. This is an effort to continue US hyperson ic research following cancellation of the X- 30 National AeroSpace Plane (NASP) and follows the Air Force's decision not to fund the NASA/USAF HySTP scramjet flight- demonstration programme. Instead of the five-year, $400 million, HySTP programme, NASA and the USAF plan to pursue sepa- ratehypersonic-research programmes. The $20 million-a-year HyTECH research programme is scheduled to get under way in June. Obviously disappointed at the Air Force's decision not to fund the HySTP demonstration, NASA will continue hypersonic research in an effort to leverage the $2 billion already spent on NASP tech nology development. NASA's $20 million-a-year hypersonic- FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 3 - 9 May 1995 ing the Dassault Rafale. Sources involved in the AMET pro gramme point out that the Rafale has been sold to the French public as an "all-singing, all dancing multi-role combat aircraft." While the French air force has a tentative requirement for a dedicated replacement for the Mirage 2000D/N strike aircraft, other than die Rafale, sources indicate that "selling" this idea to the French public at die just at the moment could be "difficult." Germany's MTU is also keen to join the AMET programme. While botJi die present partners have no objection to this in principle they would like to firm up their own relation ship before introducing another member. Given the German farago • over Eurofighter, some sources also indicate that the UK would like to see Germany commit to research programme will focus on higher- Mach-number, hydrogen-fuelled scramjets and will centre on the completion of tests of the Rocketdyne subscale parametric engine (SXPE) and Pratt & Whitney concept demonstrator engine (CDE) built for the NASP programme. The SXPE and CDE are scale models of die X-30 scramjet. About 70% of NASA's continued effort will be devoted to aeropropulsion. NASA plans a M6.5 flight experiment with Russia's CIAM engine-design institute in November 1996. This involves flying a Russian-designed scramjet on a modified SA-5 surface-to-air missile and will be a repeat of flights conduct ed in 1990 and 1991. This time, the results will be correlated widi tests of die scramjet in US and Russian windtunnels. Work will also continue on small-scale production of slush hydrogen, the chosen fuel for the X-30. Slush hydrogen (a mix of frozen and liquid hydrogen) is 16% more dense than liquid hydrogen and has 18% more heat capacity for active cooling of the engine and airframe. NASA calculated that using 50%-solid slush hydrogen would have reduced the weight of the X-30 by 30%. Pilot production of slush hydrogen was one of the highlights of the NASP pro gramme. Both freeze/thaw and continuous slush production were demonstrated and NASA successfully transfered slush hydro gen between tanks, recondensed excess gaseous hydrogen, and actively cooled tank walls by spraying liquid hydrogen. The USAF's January decision not to fund its share of the HySTP programme ended the NASP saga. In 1992, it was estimated it would cost $15 billion and take eight to ten years to build and fly the M25, single-stage-to-orbit, X-30. Instead, a six-year, $2 billion, hyperson ic flight experiments (HyFLFrE) programme was proposed to resolve technical uncertain- this programme fully, before entering into further military collaborative agreements. While in Europe, with the M88, EJ200 and AMET, and the in US with IHPTET, engine developments are continuing apace, Russian programmes appear to have been seriously hit by the near collapse of military funding. The first flight of Mikoyan's next generation air-superiority fighter, Object 1.42, has been repeatedly delayed primarily because of prob lems widi die Saturn/Lyulka AL-41 engine. This engine, in die 20-tonne dirust-class, was also earmarked to power the now defunct Su-37 attack-aircraft project. Work on the AL- 41 has been hampered by funding for die pro gramme being restricted to a trickle. Alongside die AL-41, Saturn is continuing to work on a number of upgrades for its AL-31 which powers derivatives of die Sukhoi Su-2 7 Flanker. J ties. When it became clear the money for HyFLITE would not be available, the five- year, $400 million, hypersonic test pro gramme (HySTP) was formulated to establish the performance of a scramjet at Ml 5. Budget cuts have also hit international efforts to develop hypersonic technology. Germany is in the final year of a DM400 million hypersonic research programme, and had hoped to ground-test a ramjet engine before the end of 1995. Budget cuts have pushed tests into a proposed Phase 2 programme, which the German Gov ernment has stated must be an international collaborative effort. With funding, the ground-test engine could run atM6.8 in 1996. German industry is proposing to build a flight-test engine which could be flown as a "passenger" on a modified Russian Raduga D2 drone in the year 2000. The proposed programme calls for flight-tests of the unmodified drone in 1996 to establish baseline performance. France ground-tested a scramjet model at Aerospatiale in late 1994/early 1995 and plans to resume tests at the end 1995 with a new fuel-injector design. For these tests the engine will be hydrogen-cooled for the first time. Japan tested a subscale scramjet in 1994 at a test site capable of 60s runs at M4-8. In addi tion, a 25%-scale model of Japan's ATREX air-turbo-ramjet expander-cycle engine was tested atMO-6 over 30 runs in 1990-92. The ATREX features an air-intake precooler and combustion-chamber heat-exchanger. Russia is working on scramjet engines under the Russian Space Agency's Oryol advanced reusable space-transportation-sys tem study programme. The CIAM engine- design institute is working on air-breathing propulsion options for horizontal take-off and landing designs being studied by aero- hydrodynamics-research institute TSAGI. 27
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