The new materials and inventions can mean a breakthrough in hypersonic technology.

The SR-71 and SR-72 "DarkStar" (Above)  are the fastest atmospheric aircraft. The SR-71 is the fastest known manned aircraft. with a speed of Mach 3.2 at 26,000 meters. The SR-72 can reach Mach 6 at high altitudes. The fastest air-breathing aircraft was X-43A, which reached a speed of Mach 12. But the X-43A was an air-launched single-use experimental aircraft. The retired SR-71 and SR-72 are systems that can be used many times. The SR-71 and SR-72 operate from normal runways. 

However, low-level high-speed flight faces challenges, primarily the thermal effects that can damage the aircraft's body.  

Whirls around the aircraft, known as turbulence, are one of the factors that limit hypersonic technology. The ability to remove whirls around the body could make a revolution in hypersonic technology. When an aircraft flies in the atmosphere, air flows over its body. If there is a small bulge on the body, that bulge creates a whirl that causes oscillation in the hypersonic body. The whirl acts like a roll.  One of the solutions. That can decrease the turbulence. It is making those bodies as smooth as possible. 

"Artist's concept of X-43A with scramjet attached to the underside." (Wikipedia, NASA X-43)

One solution could be a system that pushes airflow away from the body. If the aircraft can make the air layer against the body and wings as thin as possible, that removes turbulence. In some models. Things like superconducting magnets. Those that are on both sides of the aircraft can be used to push air away from the aircraft's body. The idea is that the system uses the Meissner effect. To create a thin air bubble around the aircraft. The superconducting magnets. Or the Meissner system can be used to create an acoustic bubble around the craft. The system benefits from the superconducting levitation effect. For pushing air away from the body. 

This thing makes. It is possible to create thin air conditions around the aircraft. The new materials that can transport heat out of the aircraft body. It can also make it possible to create systems that can travel with incredible speed. New materials like magic-angle graphene can pull thermal energy out from an aircraft’s body. 

“Diagram of a typical gas turbine jet engine” (Wikipedia, Turbojet)

“Diagram of a valved pulsejet. 

1 - Air enters through the valve and is mixed with fuel. 

2 - The mixture is ignited, expands, closes the valve, and exits through the tailpipe, creating thrust. 

3 - Low pressure in the engine opens the valve and draws in air.” (Wikipedia, Pulsejet) 

“Simple ramjet operation, with Mach numbers of flow shown”(Wikipedia, Ramjet)

“Diagram of principle of operation of a scramjet engine.” (Wikipedia, Scramjet)

The pulse-ramjets, or pulse scramjets, can be one of the answers to the hypersonic engine problems. The problem is that the blower wings of the turbojet don’t withstand the speed of Mach 6. In pulse-ramjets or scramjets, the combustion chamber has the shape of a ramjet and a scramjet engine. 

If the aircraft could make a molecular. Or an acoustic bubble around an aircraft. That system can make it possible to create low-flying ultra-fast aircraft solutions. The problem with hypersonic technology is the ramjet, or scramjet engine structure. Those systems don’t have blowers. So, the aircraft must travel at the speed of Mach 1 to ignite the ramjet engine. There is a possibility. To use regular turbojets to reach that speed. And then the system starts to drive fuel into ramjets. Then the iris closes the turbojet’s air intake. The answer can be the pulsejet engine. Or the flap system, which is used in the WWII V-1 “flying bomb”  missile engine. The pulsejet engine. That is shaped. The ramjet engine can be the answer. To the hypersonic system start problems. 

The flap ramjet.  Or pulse-ramjet, which uses a fuel and air mixture. Compressors drive in the combustion chamber. Then the system ignites that mixture. When speed is high enough, the compressor that drives oxygen into the combustion chamber shuts down. The flap system opens. The engine allows the air flow to travel to the ramjet engine. Another version. Is to use. The shock heating method could be used to ignite the ramjet. The system must only deny. The air flow to the front of the engine.

There is a possibility of using things like phonons to increase the pressure in the engines. The system can use coherent sound waves to press a fuel-air mixture against the wall of the combustion chamber. If the system can make a coherent sound wave. That can press a fuel-air mixture against the wall of the combustion chamber. If that pressure is high enough, that system can ignite a ramjet engine in a static position. 

https://defensefeeds.com/military-tech/air-force/reconnaissance-aircraft/lockheed-martin-sr-72/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LockheedSR-71_Blackbird

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_Martin_SR-72

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meissner_effect

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASA_X-43

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulsejet

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramjet

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocket-based_combined_cycle

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scramjet

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V-1_flying_bomb

The MiG-25 and MiG-31

The MiG-25 and MiG-31

The Russian MiG-25 (1) "Foxbat" and MiG-31(2) "Foxhound" fighters are officially the fastest combat aircraft in the world, and sometimes the aviation specialists have created the question, why those aircraft have been developed. The answer might be that the Russian planned to use them also in ASAT missions, as I have written before. And maybe they are planned to use the supersonic pressure air cone for terminating ground forces. 

But there is still the question, are those aircraft, especially MiG-25 created only for one purpose, shoot down SR-71 "Blackbirds"?(3) Could some aircraft be so important, that there is created the own aircraft type against those aircraft? The MiG-25 is almost as fast as SR-71 "Blackbird", and the shootdown should be easy by using the AA-6 "Acrid" missiles, which were specially made for MiG-25 and later those missiles were installed also under the wing of MiG-31(4). 

Or they were not installed in other aircraft. Sometimes there is claiming that some supersonic jet fighters are created for carrying supersonic weapons and in fact, the normal aerial launched rockets that are shot from MiG-25 style Mach 3 interceptor would travel across the air by speed Mach 3 plus the speed of rocket itself. That means that the fast aircraft would be a terrifying weapon itself, even it is equipped with conventional missiles and rockets. But when we are thinking about SR-71 "Blackbird" there is no reported case, that the craft is ever shot down. In other things like accidents those aircraft have been destroyed, but there are reported five countries (5), what has been shot missiles against SR-71. 

And only one case has been highlighted in those cases. The case, where North Korea has shot missile against that spy plane. Why this case is only, what has been told to publicity? Why other cases, where the SR-71 has been targeted to fire are kept a secret? Is MiG-25 or MiG-31 ever flown, when SR-71 has been flown in Russian airspace? The thing is that "Operation Overflight" was and still is top secret, and the missions of SR-71 were made under the ultimate secrecy. 

But why those attempts to shoot that plane down has ever reported by Russia or its predecessor Soviet Union? When the SR-71 finally retired, there have been rumors, that it has been replaced by some extreme secret and super-fast aircraft, which is known as "Aurora", what is claimed to be marked as SR-72(7). But when we are thinking about this thing the retirement of SR-71 happened finally in 1999, when NASA retired its pieces of that aircraft. The real reason probably was that this technology, which made that aircraft ultimate recon plane was not wanted to let to the hands of Russians. 

And that means that "Aurora" would be 20 years old concept, and the question is, why that aircraft has not been published? When we are thinking about Lockheed-Martin "Falcon" (8) the "Aurora", that claimed to have the capacity of Mach 5, is a moped in the comparison between the Mach 8 capable "Falcon", and the "Hyper X" or X-43 (9) speed record in the atmosphere is Mach 10 that makes the hiding "Aurora" somehow interesting. What is hiding behind that code word?

(1)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikoyan-Gurevich_MiG-25

(2)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikoyan_MiG-31

(3)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_SR-71_Blackbird

(4)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R-40_(missile)

(5)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IrrSwtoy1tI

(6)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9iiVUB6GYbQ

(7)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVukFXXyh80

(8)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWaiWtH2CuI

(9)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASA_X-43

Image:

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTNPcswFAtTUl-Vx0F00G8BpBL0yjhbwSEqy4RgIg6_Zto0dVqHUg&s