Pratt & Whitney,
WEST PALM BEACH: Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne (PWR), a United Technologies Corp. company, 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, East Hartford, Conn. 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 U.S. 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.
Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne, Inc., a part of Pratt & Whitney, is a preferred provider of high-value propulsion, power, energy and innovative system solutions used in a wide variety of government and commercial applications, including the main engines for the space shuttle, Atlas and Delta launch vehicles, missile defense systems and advanced hypersonic engines.
Pratt & Whitney is a world leader in the design, manufacture and service of aircraft engines, space propulsion systems and industrial gas turbines. United Technologies, based in Hartford, Conn., is a diversified company providing high technology products and services to the global aerospace and building industries.
