US tests new solid-fuel engine for long-range hypersonic missiles

_{Testing the new engine}

Two US defence companies, Raytheon and Northrop Grumman, have successfully tested a new solid-fuel engine for missiles long-range missile, designated SRM.

The test firing tests are said to have confirmed the maturity of the design and the efficiency of the power plant.

Companies have a long history history cooperation in the development of hypersonic systems. The new power plant will provide a greater range compared to conventional rocket engines

- said the developers.

As stated in the publication Army Technology, the progress of the American military-industrial complex in the field of hypersonic weapons is essential to strengthen the country's defense capability. However, the US still does not have any working systems in this niche.

Russia has made heavy use of hypersonic missiles such as the Kinzhal in the Ukraine conflict. It comes in both cruise and air-launched ballistic missile forms. Both versions have been used in the heaviest strikes on Ukraine

- says the publication.

China is actively developing its hypersonic weapons programs. New countries are gradually entering the arena. A new type of threat is capable of undermining NATO security.

There are concerns about the potential obsolescence of existing [Western] defence systems

- indicated in the publication.

Comments

[I dare to_notice_]

Well...
It's not just the Houthis who have hypersonic weapons anymore.

[Orange Bigg]

I hope we will soon adopt the air-launched Kh-95. Faster, before the Americans succeed.

[Boa kaa]

Quote: I dare_notice_

Well...
It's not just the Houthis who have hypersonic weapons anymore.

The Yankees don't even have a "technology demonstrator", let alone a prototype, let alone an industrial product. They only tested the engine (conducted fire tests). And judging by the flare, it's most likely a solid-propellant rocket engine, not a ramjet, which is what they were dreaming about.

[I dare to_notice_]

So don’t give a damn about them!
For some reason, I like them... I don't feel sorry at all.

[That's it]

Of course, I am not a big expert in rocket engineering, but there are stubborn facts based on pure chemistry. A solid-fuel engine cannot be more efficient than a liquid-propellant rocket engine. No way and never. That is why the USSR abandoned solid-fuel engines at the time, and the USA used them only in booster blocks or as auxiliary ones. And they certainly cannot be the basis for hypersonics.

[That's it]

I apologize for the inattention. According to Soviet traditions, a solid fuel engine is designated by the abbreviation RDTT.

[astepanov]

Quote: Shuman

A solid propellant engine cannot be more efficient than a liquid propellant rocket engine.

This is true, but the USSR never abandoned turbojet engines, an example of which is the Temp-S OTRK with a firing range of 950 km. Topol-M is also a solid-fuel missile. Modern liquid-propellant rocket engines have a specific impulse of slightly over 300 s, while solid-fuel rocket engines have a specific impulse of up to 280 s, so the difference is not very big. The oxygen-hydrogen pair has a higher (and much higher) one, but it is not used in military equipment for obvious reasons.
In recent years, TRD has gained the potential to increase the energy of solid fuel by using ammonium dinitramide instead of traditional ammonium perchlorate. Dinitramide was discovered in the USSR several years earlier than in the USA, which may explain Russia's success in combat rocketry.

[nordscout]

A new solid-fuel engine, even if it is successful... The engine is the "fifth problem" in the "third line" of the success of "hypersonic" in the USA... Let them "dare", but for now, they cannot reach Russia in this type of weaponry...

[voyaka uh]

"Hypersonic" is the new fashionable name for ballistic missiles: from operational-tactical to ICBMs.
They have been flying since 1945 (FAU-2)
at hypersonic speed. And no one was surprised.

[Orange Bigg]

Ballistic missiles fly only along a ballistic or quasi-ballistic trajectory. But the same "Zircon" with a scramjet after rising to an altitude of 30-40 km flies horizontally at 8-10M, constantly maneuvering

"Classical" two-stage design of a hypersonic missile

The rocket is two-stage, with a tail consisting of 3-4 rotating wings at the end of each stage. The first stage is necessary for acceleration to the speed at which the scramjet (hypersonic ramjet engine) is turned on. To operate, it needs an oncoming air flow at a speed of 3-5M. Then the flow narrows inside the engine, which does not have any afterburners or other conventional components. In the narrowest part, fuel is supplied from the walls, which spontaneously ignites under the influence of high temperature, and then the gas flow breaks out through the nozzle. Simple and cheap. Why is the scramjet so difficult for designers then? Without going into too much detail, let's remember what happens to the aircraft when it overcomes the sound barrier - a sharp pressure surge occurs. The same thing is observed inside such an engine, which has a very detrimental effect on the stability of its operation.

[voyaka uh]

You described the process correctly.
First a solid fuel booster, then a straight-through one.
With the Zircon, after it was fired twice at targets in Ukraine, it became clearer. One of the missiles exploded in soft soil and many components (except
The BC) remained slightly damaged.
Its straight-through engine is similar to the Onyx engine.

[Boa kaa]

Quote: voyaka uh

One of the missiles exploded in soft soil and many components (except the warhead) remained slightly damaged.
Its straight-through engine is similar to the Onyx engine.

1. Can you even imagine what remains of the product when 300 kg of TGA explodes!? (brisance coefficient 1,5! Total - 450 in TNT equivalent!) Therefore, the tales about soft soil and remains are for the gullible in the hope that the Russians, for the sake of maintaining the secret, will no longer use Zircons on Svidomites.
2. The fact that the engine of the 3M22 product is similar to the Onyx one was clear from the fact that the cap was shot off from the air intake after the product exited the VPU.

[voyaka uh]

"for the sake of keeping the secret, they will no longer use Zircons for Svidomites"///
---
So:
1) There is no more secret. The video of the parts/components has been published.
2) Zircons are no longer used.