China is working on a laser to increase the speed of hypersonic missiles

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Defense Post author Joe Saballa writes that a group of laser experts at the Beijing Space Engineering University is currently developing a device that would increase the speed of hypersonic missiles and warplanes. We are talking about a "laser cannon" that will be installed on a hypersonic missile and will reduce air resistance by 70% or more.

China is going to use this device in the production weapons and aircraft. However, at this stage, its implementation may face a number of technical problems. Saballa cites the opinion of experts, according to which, with the help of a laser, the pressure distribution can be changed to reduce resistance, as well as the speed of an aircraft or rocket can be increased.



Chinese engineers appear to be developing a device that will create a droplet-shaped plasma cloud that affects wind currents. In any case, the Chinese authorities did not disclose details regarding the creation of new weapons. Beijing keeps all its experiments in the field of creating hypersonic weapons and enhancing their capabilities a closely guarded secret.

At the same time, scientists from the University of Space Engineering spoke about the presence of several problems with the device they are developing. The first problem has to do with the size of the laser cannon. It needs to be very small to fit on a rocket or in the front of an aircraft. The main challenge now is to reduce the weight and size of high-power lasers.

Secondly, the installation of a laser on an aircraft can increase its mass, which will negatively affect the aerodynamic characteristics. And, at the same time, experts are convinced: the benefits from the introduction and use of a new device will far outweigh the adverse effects that may arise from its operation. For example, the question of how this "laser gun" can affect other objects in the air has not been resolved.

In any case, now China is rapidly moving towards improving its own hypersonic weapons. The concerns of Western countries are understandable: in this direction, Beijing has managed to overtake the United States.
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26 comments
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  1. +1
    28 July 2021 14: 46
    For example, the question of how this "laser gun" can affect other objects in the air has not been resolved.
    Now, if it comes to the use of hypersonic, then it is absolutely all the same what will happen to those who did not hide.
    At the same time, scientists from the University of Space Engineering spoke about the presence of several problems with the device they are developing.
    Yeah ... So they dropped everything and told everything as it is !!! wassat wassat wassat
    1. +1
      28 July 2021 14: 49
      Quote: NDR-791
      absolutely all the same what will happen to those who did not hide.

      Well, they may not have time to hide, after all, and their own aircraft. For example, the same rocket that arrived a little earlier.
    2. +3
      28 July 2021 14: 53
      with the help of a laser, the pressure distribution can be changed to reduce drag, and the speed of an aircraft or rocket can also be increased.

      Well done Chinese! The Shkval rocket-torpedo principle is being transferred to the heads of ballistic missiles!
      And what prevents ours from picking up the idea? Or maybe they are working on it, who knows ...
      1. +1
        28 July 2021 15: 05
        Quote: Starover_Z
        And what prevents ours from picking up the idea? Or maybe they are working on it, who knows ..

        In the cheerful period of continuous propaganda of SDI, so many things were offered! Including the creation of a plasmoid in front of the enemy warhead using a laser "cannon"! It was assumed that the warhead, "crashing" into the plasmoid, will go into "runaway" and fall apart! So ... in the USSR, the idea of ​​using a plasmoid and a laser was the opposite of China!
      2. +1
        28 July 2021 15: 27
        Quote: Starover_Z
        And what prevents ours from picking up the idea?

        Nothing gets in the way. There was already a conversation on the VO, in order to reduce air resistance, it is necessary to use a plasma cocoon. Referred to the fact that such work is underway. Apparently this is the path that will have to go to the end or will run into a dead end and stop development. If the Chinese have already come to him, then there are some developments in this direction, allowing you to go to the creation of working models.
      3. +2
        28 July 2021 15: 38
        And where to take the relic on an aircraft for such a thing? Power the laser - from what?
        1. +1
          28 July 2021 15: 48
          And where to take the relic on an aircraft for such a thing?

          Use the one that was previously used for air resistance.
          1. +1
            28 July 2021 15: 50
            I have no idea how, on the same rocket, to use the power of the engine to power the laser ..
            1. 0
              28 July 2021 15: 55
              I don't really imagine

              Who represents? To do this, you need to know the required power, the gain, if any. And only then think about specifics. In short, you have to work. By the way, there would be a fuel and an oxidizer. And to convert chemical energy into electrical energy in a carriage.
      4. -1
        28 July 2021 17: 41
        Quote: Starover_Z
        And what prevents ours from picking up the idea? Or maybe they are working on it, who knows ...

        =======
        How do we know? We have been working on hypersound and lasers for a very long time ... Who knows? Maybe they just "picked up" it ??? request
    3. +1
      28 July 2021 15: 07
      Quote: NDR-791
      For example, the question of how this "laser gun" can affect other objects in the air has not been resolved.

      To create a "plasma bubble, short-focus optics will be required, and the bubble will absorb all radiation ... That is why there are restrictions on the power of a laser weapon, (or rather, the power density), operating in the atmosphere. The air" breaks through "... The idea is, in general, nonsense , but gutting striped ears is good.
    4. 0
      29 July 2021 09: 44
      The laser must be so small that it can be placed in the fairing of hypersonic missiles. And in different parts of the flight, the laser wavelength must be different - the laser must be tunable. And option one is free electron lasers. Or rather, a particle accelerator, And this product has a very decent size ..
      If the Chinese "Kulibins" can make its dimensions of the order of 1 m, then the problem is solved.
      By "burning the atmosphere" you can create an area
      turbulence (plasma cloud) in front of the aircraft, where the resistance of the medium will decrease by almost 70%.
      This idea is interesting for planes too.
  2. +1
    28 July 2021 14: 48
    Complete nonsense of course. Here the Russian Federation accelerates to hypersound in the stratosphere, where the discharge is already a hundred times less, and dense 10-15 km, bakes in a couple of seconds. To block the laser here ... unhealthy futurology.
  3. +2
    28 July 2021 14: 56
    Another article about nothing
    "Water is water, water is everywhere ..." laughing
  4. 0
    28 July 2021 14: 59
    But for me it's ok. We put a focal point and a small piece of plasma is formed in front of the nose.
  5. sen
    +1
    28 July 2021 15: 46
    We did something similar on a different principle, but everything died out. Development of academician A.S. Koroteev from the V.I. M.V. Keldysh. The device, weighing about 150 kg, creates plasma clouds that actively absorb electromagnetic waves, due to which the aircraft's detection range by the radar drops by more than 100 times. A side effect is a reduction in aerodynamic losses.
    In practice, an attempt was made to implement this system in the Russian universal strategic missile 3M-25 Meteorite (P-750 Thunder).
    https://missilery.info/missile/meteorit
    https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Метеорит_(ракета)
    https://topwar.ru/19384-strategicheskaya-universalnaya-kr-3m25-grom-kompleks-meteorit.html
  6. +5
    28 July 2021 15: 48
    Defense Post author Joe Saballa writes that a group of laser experts at the Beijing Space Engineering University is currently developing a device that would increase the speed of hypersonic missiles and warplanes. We are talking about a "laser cannon" that will be installed on a hypersonic missile and will reduce air resistance by 70% or more.

    Chinese engineers appear to be developing a device that will create a droplet-shaped plasma cloud that affects wind currents.

    I thought, as usual, an illiterate translation. However, no - in the original, too, The group that the device they are developing will create a teardrop-shaped plasma cloud that spins in opposite directions and generates forward-moving wind in front of a hypersonic aircraft or weapon.
    It turns out to write about questions about which you have no idea - a tradition not only of the VO site.
    In fact, there is no sensation in Chinese studies. We are talking about magnetoplasma aerodynamics, which in its modern form was finally formed in the 1990s, although research began much earlier - Boris Sergeevich Stechkin, back in the 40s, received several patents on the use of energy input (heating) in front of a high-speed aircraft.
    It was proposed to use a laser spark as an aerodynamic needle back in 1994. To anyone interested, you can find on the net the article CALCULATION AND THEORY OF AN EXPERIMENT SIMILARIZING THE "AIR-SPIKE" EFFECT IN HYPERSONIC AERODYNAMICS.
    In this case, apparently, this is exactly what we are talking about, only at the modern level.

    In short, now the classical aerodynamics of aircraft, based on the geometry and shape of its parts, has practically reached the limit of perfection.
    Therefore, there is an intensive search for new promising ways to improve the picture of air flow around the surface of the aircraft - active control methods.
    Plasma actuators are one of such promising devices for gas flow control.
    This allows an almost unlimited amount of energy to be invested in the oncoming gas flow, affecting its parameters.
    The Chinese are far from being the first or second in these studies. Here ahead of Russia and the United States.
    1. 0
      28 July 2021 16: 16
      据 中央 电视台 军事 节目 《卫 虎 堂》 报道 , 由 中国科学院 力学 研究所 方学军 领导 的 团队 开发 出 一种 冲压 发动机 , 在 地面 试验 中 连续 运行 600 秒。.

      魏虎堂 说 , 这一 成就 打破 了 美国 X-51 飞机 210 秒 的 世界 纪录。
      1. +2
        28 July 2021 16: 21
        So what? How does this affect the alignment of forces in the field of magnetoplasma aerodynamics?
      2. 0
        28 July 2021 18: 39
        Quote: UGM157
        美国 X-51

        Chinese ramjet race 600 seconds on the ground? Well, where did he fly? And how was it "lit" if this requires an incoming flow velocity of more than 1M? Did they drive in a wind tunnel?
        But, in any case, this is still not the flight of the X-51 ... Amy, of course, they are scoundrels, but they buy brains from all over the world for their printed candy wrappers ... that is how parasites live ...
        So, after reading the whale message, you should still "divide by 2"!
        AHA.
    2. 0
      29 July 2021 09: 20
      This is the RESEARCH CENTER NAMED AFTER M.V. KELDYSHA is engaged in

      Installation "Minor" is designed to actively influence the Earth's ionosphere. Installation power 1,5 ... 3,5 kW, injection current 50 ... 300 A.


      Relaxation in the atmosphere of a powerful electron beam (installation "ONEGA")

      Small-sized electron-beam installation M-13
      1. -4
        29 July 2021 12: 14
        This has nothing to do with magnetoplasma aerodynamics.
        1. sen
          +1
          29 July 2021 15: 56
          In the magazine "TM" N5 for 1999 (p. 14) there is a statement by the head of the center. M.V. Keldysh, academician A.S. Koroteeva:
          "The well-known American stealth technology uses special absorbing coatings to reduce radio visibility. Ours is fundamentally different - for the same purposes, artificial plasma formation is used, obtained by ejection of electron beams into the atmosphere.
          Plasma clouds are created near the skin, actively absorbing electromagnetic waves, due to which the aircraft's detection range drops by more than 100 times. This technology is much cheaper than the American one, does not impair aerodynamics (rather the opposite), does not require special contours of the aircraft and makes it possible to make virtually any of the currently existing or only designed aircraft invisible. "
  7. 0
    28 July 2021 16: 06
    A team led by Fang Xuejun of the Institute of Mechanics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has developed a ramjet engine that ran continuously for 600 seconds during ground tests, according to Weihutang, a military affairs program on state-run China Central Television (CCTV).

    This achievement broke the world record of 210 seconds set by the American X-51 aircraft, Weihutang said.
  8. 0
    29 July 2021 01: 29
    Here is a more realistic way of using laser by the Chinese:
    1) create an effective laser that can shoot down hypersonic missiles
    2) Russians tense up and come up with faster missiles
    3) we steal technology from the Russians
    4) profit.
  9. 0
    29 July 2021 01: 32
    If I am not mistaken, then in the late 90s and early 2000s, this technology was attributed to the USSR / Russia. Oooooochen for a long time, watched a vidosik about planes in a cloud of plasma. It is necessary to look in YouTube, maybe there is lying around.

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