The article reports that Chinese scientists have developed a new hypersonic glider that can travel from one side of the Earth to the other.
This advanced glider, called a “spaceplane”, can reach speeds exceeding Mach 5 – which is five times the speed of sound. Its design allows it to potentially make a trip around the world in less than an hour.
This development puts China at the forefront of hypersonic technology, which could have significant implications for both military and civilian applications. It may also enhance China’s capabilities in rapid global response and satellite deployment.
Read more below.
This new generation of hypersonic weapons “possesses significant advantages in [military] application, featuring long range, high manoeuvrability and unpredictability”, the team led by Yong Enmi, a researcher with the China Aerodynamics Research and Development Centre, wrote in a peer-reviewed paper published in the Chinese Journal of Astronautics in June.
Known as the father of Chinese rockets, Qian first proposed the concept of hypersonic gliders back in the late 1940s. The idea is that a glider is carried by rocket above the Earth’s atmosphere, and then it descends without power.
With the lift generated by its wings, it can fly thousands of kilometres within the atmosphere at speeds above Mach 7.
This non-ballistic flight is known as the Qian Xuesen trajectory. Currently, all known hypersonic glide weapons equipped in the military, such as China’s DF-17 missile, are designed based on this principle.
These hypersonic gliders can penetrate air defence systems with unparalleled speed and manoeuvrability.
But a more radical trajectory was proposed in 1941 by Eugen Sänger, an Austrian scientist working for Germany during World War II.
His Silbervogel (silver bird) aircraft was designed with a booster engine, allowing it to move in the upper atmosphere like a skipping stone.
Sänger believed that the Silbervogel could be launched from Germany, drop bombs in New York, and land on Pacific islands controlled by Japan.
But his proposal has remained only on paper – until now.
“Many key technologies related to the development of aircraft with this trajectory are not solved and have not yet reached the technical maturity for engineering applications,” Yong and her colleagues wrote.
Due to military sensitivity, previously published related research in China was limited to pure theoretical models.
But one glider design in particular has stood out with close links to practical applications, according to Yong’s team.
This aircraft features a slender body with fuselage integrated with wings. The trailing edge of the side wings has elevators, while the rudder is located on the wing’s raised tip.
“This layout has been verified through numerical simulations and wind tunnel test data and has been extensively used in the stages of optimisation design and model selection,” Yong’s team wrote.
Based on this new aircraft, they used a novel algorithm to optimise the Sänger trajectory. Computer simulations show that the aircraft’s top speed approaches Mach 20 and can maintain a speed above Mach 17 for more than half an hour by jumping repeatedly above the atmosphere.
After flying continuously for more than an hour, the aircraft can still glide at a speed above Mach 7. This means it can strike almost any location on the planet.
The gentler descent also reduces friction with the atmosphere. Compared to unpowered gliding, the maximum heat flux experienced by the new aircraft is expected to be reduced by half, which is beneficial for reducing the burden on the thermal protection system.
Yong’s team said the current technology still does not fully meet the requirements for actual combat.
The military demands that the aircraft be able to flexibly change its trajectory to bypass specific territorial air space. This requires additional auxiliary equipment such as reaction control systems.
The combination of multiple active and passive steering methods will pose unprecedented challenges to flight control, according to the researchers.
China is currently conducting extensive testing of related technologies.
According to public reports, the development of solid-fuel pulse engines capable of multiple ignitions has been completed.
In 2021, China conducted a test flight of a hypersonic glide aircraft capable of going around the Earth.
This capability left US government scientists bewildered, according to a Financial Times report.
China’s achievement appeared “to defy the laws of physics”, an anonymous source was quoted as saying.
Source: South China Morning Post
