Wraps Up Development Testing; Company "Encouraged" With Results

Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne (PWR) tells ANN it has successfully demonstrated sub-scale combustor operation for a hydrocarbon-fueled, dual-mode ramjet engine designed to operate over a wide range of Mach numbers.

Development testing, which began in November 2006 and concluded last week, was conducted at the United Technologies Research Center in East Hartford, CT. The combustor achieved desired operability and performance required for operation from Mach 2.5 to Mach 6.0.

"We are extremely encouraged by the performance of the ramjet combustor toward developing practical flight hardware and systems for the Falcon program," said Michael McKeon, PWR hypersonics and advanced programs manager.

The engine technology is being developed under contract with Lockheed Martin for the Falcon Combined-Cycle Engine Technology (FaCET) Program. The Falcon initiative is a Joint Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and US Air Force program to develop and demonstrate hypersonic technologies to enable prompt global reach missions.

A dual-mode ramjet transitions between subsonic and supersonic modes of operation, allowing use of the same engine for supersonic and hypersonic flight.

FMI: www.pw.utc.com