OT: American Mach-3 Missile Advances

[BladeLWS]

Looks like they took the engine off a SR-71 :D

 

Cept this engine has no reheat, and has six times the thrust that the old J58's on the Blackbird :thumbup:

 

 

Mach 3 missile advances

AdTech Ad

 

By Graham Warwick in Washington DC

 

Lockheed Martin is nearing the crit*ical design review on a technology demonstrator for a Mach 3-plus cruise missile that could be air, ship and submarine-launched. The missile would be accelerated from subsonic launch to supersonic cruise by a turbine engine, and could fly 920km (500nm) or more in 15min to attack time-critical targets.

 

The demonstrator is being de*signed for the US Office of Naval Research (ONR) under the Revolutionary Approach to Time-critical Long-Range Strike (RATTLRS) project. Lockheed’s Skunk Works is prime contractor. Rolls-Royce’s Liberty Works is building the YJ102R high-Mach turbine engine for the demonstrator.

 

First ground runs of the complete engine are planned for early next year, says Lockheed programme manager Craig Johnston. Construction of the integrated vehicle will begin around the same time, with the first launch from a Lockheed NC-130F planned for late next year in the Pacific test range off Pt Mugu, California.

 

Before the end of this year, sled tests are planned to demonstrate payloads planned for an operational weapon – including subsonic and supersonic submunitions dispensing and supersonic penetrator delivery – says ONR programme manager Lawrence Ash.

 

Johnston says the goal of RATTLRS, which is a US Navy-led joint project with the US Air Force, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and NASA, is to reduce risk to where development of an operational weapon could be launched before the end of the decade.

 

Ash says the YJ102R has six times the specific thrust of the Pratt & Whitney J58 that powered the Lockheed SR-71, and will accelerate the missile to M3 without reheat. The airframe is similar in shape and size to an SR-71 engine nacelle, but the YJ102R is only 330mm (13in) in diameter yet produces half the dry thrust of the four times larger J58, at 6% of the weight, he says.

 

 

http://www.flightglobal.com/Articles/2006/07/04/Navigation/177/207615/Mach+3+missile+advances+.html

[cool_t]

Mach 3

 

Nice

 

:thumbup:

[Crusty]

Looks a bit like the D-21 drone they tried carried on the back of a blackbird years ago.....think they had problems during launch/seperation so it didnt see much use iirc

[britgliderpilot]

Looks a bit like the D-21 drone they tried carried on the back of a blackbird years ago.....think they had problems during launch/seperation so it didnt see much use iirc

 

They did - shockwave interaction forced it into the back of a Blackbird at a Mach-3-plus launch.

 

Both crew ejected safely, tragically one drowned when he landed in the sea and his pressure suit filled with water.

 

 

It's amazing what you can do with engine performance if it only has to last 15 minutes - frees you of quite a lot of hassles!

 

It'd be rather expensive to throw away all the exotic alloys and variable-intake spike, but hey - what price superiority in war?

 

 

Been reading up the Blackbird propulsions system recently, and it is actually pretty astonishing . . . . fr'instance, the J58 at Mach 3 produced very little of the thrust at that speed.

 

The engine couldn't swallow the massflow at that speed, or deal with supersonic airflow on it's own - the variable geometry intakes decelerated the air to subsonic speeds and compressed it massively, then after a couple of stages of compression most of the air actually bypassed the engine and was fed directly into the afterburner.

 

The result was mostly ramjet at Mach 3 - compressed in the intake and burned in the afterburner. The J58 helped, no doubting that . . . . but the majority of the thrust at Mach 3 was other trickery.

 

Somewhere I've got a NASA study on fitting Nitrous Oxide to the SR71 (no, I'm not kidding), which reveals that actually the Blackbird had difficulty in breaking the sound barrier in level flight - had accelerate to supersonic speeds in a dive, after which the intakes started doing their job.

 

The Nos was supposed to improve acceleration to Mach 3 with a payload on board.

 

 

I'd expect a rocket booster for initial acceleration - you'd need something pretty mighty to provide the acceleration from standstill to Mach 3.

 

Will do some more reading, sounds . . . . impressive. And technically rather challenging.

[Ender]

It's yet not the 4500km range, which is necessary to attack the ballistic missiles based in Siberia from the North Sea.

[4c Hajduk Veljko]

Looks like they took the engine off a SR-71 :D

No, it is modified MiG-21! :pilotfly:

[GGTharos]

NOpe, that was the bomarc!

[nscode]

NO! It's Superman!

 

lol

[Crusty]

NOpe, that was the bomarc!

 

not even close

[dynamocl]

Imagien the complaints they would receive, firing cruise missiles over populated areas at M3. Looking back at GW1, you saw vids of tomahawks flying low level over towns etc. With current regulations for Mach travel over land, how will they cope.

 

Then again, it is the US, rules get bent. 8)

[rekoal]

aww, the mach rules over land, there sure will get bent lol!

 

rekoal

[Prophet_169th]

It's yet not the 4500km range, which is necessary to attack the ballistic missiles based in Siberia from the North Sea.

 

The Cold War is over, I dont think we are worried about ballistic missiles from Siberia anymore.

 

Whats the range to N. Korea?

[dynamocl]

Depends where they park their subs :)

[brewber19]

Depends where they park their subs :)

 

LOL :megalol: