(ZEROHEDGE) – Chinese scientists have built what they claim is a "revolutionary" hypersonic engine that could one day propel an airframe as fast as Mach 16, or about 12,300 mph, according to the South China Morning Post (SCMP), citing a new paper published in the Chinese Journal of Aeronautics.
The flight test of the hypersonic engine was conducted in a wind tunnel in Beijing suggested unprecedented thrust, fuel efficiency, and operational stability. Scientists believe the engine could operate at Mach 16, propelling an airframe across the world in just two hours.
The Chinese paper, titled "The criteria for airbreathing hypersonic propulsion and its experimental verification," says the sodramjet (short for "standing oblique detonation ramjet engine") is an "airbreathing propulsion" system "for future aerospace flight." It has no moving parts and uses the plane's speed to ram air into the engine, then blended with hydrogen fuel and detonated, discharging out of the back of the engine as thrust.
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