UK-based Reaction Engines has launched ground-based testing of its hypersonic powerplant technology under a US Department of Defense foreign technology programme. (Reaction Engines)
UK company Reaction Engines has launched ground-based testing of its hypersonic powerplant technology under a US Department of Defense (DoD) foreign technology programme.
Announced on 7 July, the commencement of the testing campaign seeks to prove Reaction Engines' high-Mach enabling technology through the Foreign Comparative Testing (FCT) programme conducted by the DoD with support from the US Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL).
“The FCT programme is administered by the Directorate of Defense Research and Engineering for Advanced Capabilities and is focused on the discovery, assessment, and testing of leading foreign technology with the potential to satisfy US defence technical demands,” Reaction Engines said. “The programme seeks high Technology Readiness Level (TRL) technologies that could rapidly and economically satisfy current and emerging requirements.”
According to Reaction Engines, “The new test campaign aims to build upon the success of the previous HTX test programme of the [company's] pre-cooler by significantly increasing the delivered air mass flow rate and other test parameters, which will result in a three-fold increase in the total energy transfer through the engine heat exchanger. The planned test points for the FCT tests were selected to be characteristic of the integration of Reaction Engines' thermal management technology with state-of-the-art jet engines.” Reaction Engines was contracted by the DoD in mid-2021.
Andrew Piotti, the engineering manager for Reaction Engines US, was quoted as saying that “high-Mach” is defined as being Mach 4 and above. According to the US Air Force, FCT is a ‘two-way street' for defence procurements with both allied and friendly countries.
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