March 10, 2010 at 5:18 pm
will the f-35 will get a new toy ?
http://www.edwards.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123193363
Lt. Col. Todd Venema, director of the Hypersonic Combined Test Force explained just how the test team plans to do that. “We’re going to take the WaveRider and launch it from a B-52 at 50,000 feet over the Pacific Ocean and the vehicle is going to drop away.”
Colonel Venema further explained that if all goes as planned, the vehicle will be accelerated by a solid rocket booster up to about Mach 4.5. Once it reaches that speed the booster will drop away and the vehicle and the engine will ignite and accelerate the vehicle up to Mach 6, about six times the speed of sound.
Johnny Armstrong, chief engineer of the Hypersonic Combined Test Force explained what a scramjet is. “A scramjet is an engine that has no internal moving parts. It takes in air, you mix fuel in it and it automatically burns and because of the high speed and high temperature that you get in flight, it’s able to produce a thrust.”