Reaction Engines of the UK could be part of a winning group of bidders for open-ended hypersonic weapons development.
They have proven an innovative pre-cooling system which does not require the development of new materials to handle the heat of hypersonic flight speeds.
The US Air Force Research Labs are already working with them. They would need to partner with US companies like Lockheed or Boeing to get the big military contract.
The pre-coolers are made from thousands of thin-walled tubes to provide high surface area to low weight. Each tube is joined to an inlet and outlet manifold, which allows coolant to be injected and removed for the cooling process. We’re the only people in the world with the heat exchanger manufacturing experience to bond thousands of joints in a single operation, and achieve zero leakage. The joints in our pre-cooler modules are hermetically sealed, meaning that the gas which escapes can be measured by the molecule.
Continue reading… “Reaction Pre-cooled Engines could deliver reusable hypersonic planes by 2025”
