Category: DARPA

Last month, the race to develop reusable hypersonic aircraft heated up as GE Aerospace unveiled a groundbreaking advancement in high-speed jet engine design, potentially enabling conventional aircraft to reach speeds exceeding Mach 10. According to GE’s press release, the company achieved a world-first hypersonic dual-mode ramjet (DMRJ) rig test with rotating detonation combustion (RDC) in a supersonic flow stream. This breakthrough leverages rotating detonation combustion, a highly efficient power production method, within a dual-mode ramjet/scramjet engine.

Ramjets and scramjets are air-breathing jet engines that excel at high speeds, typically from around Mach 3 up to Mach 5 and beyond, but are less effective at lower speeds. GE’s achievement represents a significant step towards developing dual-mode ramjet/scramjets with extended range, especially when combined with a turbine-based combined cycle (TBCC) propulsion system.

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has enlisted Raytheon for the design and development of a wireless, airborne relay system aimed at delivering energy into challenging environments as part of the Energy Web Dominance program. Under a two-year, $10 million contract, Raytheon will create the Persistent Optical Wireless Energy Relay (POWER) system, employing high-altitude unmanned aircraft equipped with laser-based power receiving and transmitting capabilities.

The POWER system is designed to beam energy to high altitudes and relay it across multiple jumps to reach the intended target area, which could be on the ground or another autonomous aerial platform. This innovative approach creates an “energy web,” enabling military logisticians to route energy rapidly where it is most needed. The system offers the potential to provide indefinite endurance to land, sky, or sea-based robots or redirect energy strategically as required.