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The four-year project, part of the Glide Breaker programme at US military R&D agency Darpa, will include computational fluid dynamics analysis, wind tunnel testing and evaluation of aerodynamic jet interaction effects during flight tests.
“Hypersonic vehicles are among the most dangerous and rapidly evolving threats facing national security,” said Gil Griffin, executive director of Boeing Phantom Works Advanced Weapons. “We’re focusing on the technological understanding needed to further develop our nation’s counter-hypersonic capabilities and defend from future threats.”
Glide Breaker is intended to inform the design and development of future hypersonic interceptors, which could destroy a threat travelling at at least Mach 5 in the upper atmosphere during what is known as the ‘glide phase’ of flight.
The development and testing will provide the foundation for future glide-phase interceptors capable of defending against “these sophisticated and evolving hypersonic threats,” Boeing said.
“This phase of the Glide Breaker programme will determine how factors like hypersonic airflow and firing jet thrusters to guide the vehicle affect system performance at extreme speed and altitude in a representative digital environment,” said Griffin. “We’re operating on the cutting edge of what’s possible in terms of intercepting an extremely fast object in an incredibly dynamic environment.”
The Russian war in Ukraine has accelerated hypersonic weapon development, including new co-operation on hypersonic weapons and counter-hypersonics in the Aukus (Australia-UK-US) partnership.
High manoeuvrability and the element of surprise makes sensing new hypersonic weapons very difficult, expert Iain Boyd from the Centre for National Security Initiatives at the University of Colorado told Professional Engineering previously. ‘Plasma blackout’ around hypersonic vehicles, in which charged particles interfere with radio communications, is another challenge.
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Content published by Professional Engineering does not necessarily represent the views of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers.