
Indian space research organization conducted the first successful test of a hypersonic ramjet engines, according to Defense Aerospace. During flight tests of power plants the researchers tested the ignition at supersonic speed, steady burning fuel, the mechanism of air intake and fuel injection system.+
Hypersonic motor differs from the conventional in that the combustion in the chamber takes place in supersonic airflow. Air for combustion is fed into the chamber by the forward flow without the use of additional compressors: in-flight air flow enters the intake, then naujausius compressor chamber and thereafter into the combustion chamber.
Engines of this type are capable of operating at the speed of flight of at least four-five Mach numbers (4,9-6,2 thousand kilometers per hour). It is believed that the upper limit of the speed of a hypersonic engine is about 24 Mach numbers. For flight at high speeds the engine will require the injection of additional portions of oxidant.
Using hypersonic ramjet engines in launch vehicles would eliminate part of the liquid oxidizer, which would be necessary only natmosphere phase of flight. The advantage of the scramjet is that they are quite powerful and used for combustion air.
Indian hypersonic test engines that run on hydrogen and atmospheric air, was held at the site Sriharikota on the East of the country. He started a slightly modified two-stage solid-fuel booster ATV. The second stage was mounted in unit with two hypersonic engines. A start was made on the ground in the Bay of Bengal, 320 miles from Sriharikota.
The total duration of the flight the second stage was 300 seconds. After the rocket was launched and has a top speed of six Mach numbers, control system turned on the ignition of hypersonic engines. The unit with the engines rose to a height of 70 kilometers. The duration of the power plants amounted to five seconds.
The entire flight from launch with Shriharikota before falling into the Bay of Bengal took place in automatic mode. It should be noted that the objective of the first tests of hypersonic engines have been checking the stability of their work, not the ability of power plants to accelerate vehicles to hypersonic speeds.
Today, the development of hypersonic vehicles involves several countries, primarily Russia and the United States. Both of these countries over the past few years has experienced several hypersonic vehicles. Hypersonic engines in the future will be installed on combat missiles, launch vehicles, unmanned aerial vehicles and fighter jets.