US Navy To Demo New 'Ramjet' Supersonic Missile For Carrier Jets In Late 2022 - Boeing

US Navy to Demo New 'Ramjet' Supersonic Missile for Carrier Jets in Late 2022 - Boeing

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 21st October, 2020) The US Navy has awarded Boeing a $30 million contract and plans demonstrate an air-breathing supersonic missile� for aircraft carrier-based F/A-18 Super Hornet jets in late 2022, manufacturer Boeing said in a press release on Tuesday.

"Boeing has been awarded a $30 million contract from the Navy to co-develop the Supersonic Propulsion Enabled Advanced Ramjet (SPEAR) flight demonstrator with the Navy's Air Warfare Center Weapons Division," the release said.

Boeing and the Navy plan to fly a demonstrator for the F/A-18 Super Hornet in late 2022, the release said,

Ramjet technology allows missiles to burn fuel without the need to carry oxygen as in conventional rocket motors, provided the projectiles are designed with open air vents and fly at speeds at least 3 times the speed of sound, according to Nordic Ammunition Company (NAMMO), a Norway-Finland defense contractor that is developing the technology.

NAMMO claims it has created modified ramjet engines capable of powering missiles at hypersonic speeds of up to 10 times the speed of sound, with engineers attempting to push the technology to generate even higher speeds, the company explains in a 10 minute YouTube video.

Without the need to carry its own oxygen, a ramjet powered missile can carry up to five times more burnable rocket fuel, with comparable increases in range, according to NAMMO.

The Boeing release noted that Boeing had created ramjet projectiles in 2010 and 2014, so the company is familiar with the technology.

The US halted the development of supersonic and hypersonic weapons until China and Russia recently demonstrated hypersonic missiles and gliders.

Those demonstrations prompted the Defense Department to begin an accelerated effort to catch up to potential adversaries, with multiple programs to develop supersonic and hypersonic weapons for all branches of the US military.