Mach 6+ Turbine Engine with Inlet Air Conditioning

In support of the DARPA efforts focused on delivering higher thrust-to-weight ratios, reduced cost turbine engine technology as well as developing innovative and high Mach airbreathing engines, MSE Technology Applications, Inc., with the Air Force ResearchLaboratory, proposes to design, develop, and test a new high Mach engine concept, the SteamJet(TM), which is based on existing turbojets. This will provide the DoD with a low cost, low risk propulsion system possessing unique control andacceleration/deceleration features for small hydrocarbon-fueled flight vehicles such as missiles, interceptors, and launcher accelerators. SteamJet(TM) employs a simple, low cost modification to a conventional turbojet engine to reduce the high incomingair stagnation temperature at high Mach numbers and compensate for compressor performance deterioration. The main innovative feature is that SteamJet(TM)is the only airbreathing cycle that permits vehicle acceleration with a single type of engine (asdistinct from, for example, the turboramjet) from sea-level static conditions up to Mach 6+. The SteamJet(TM) is a high thrust engine with very flexible thrust control, and it is fueled by commonly available fuels. SteamJet(TM) technology isenvironmentally clean and it is equally applicable to both military and commercial launchers as well as other high speed vehicles. Additionally, it will help to reach or exceed several IHPTET Phase III goals by the year 2003. The SteamJet(TM) concept hasunique competitive advantages of higher performance than solid or liquid rockets, provides thrust from sea-level static conditions to Mach 6+, and has a higher thrust-to-weight ratio than a comparable ramjet. Being completely within industrial capability,this low cost modification of existing turbojets offers a variety of thrusters for DARPA, USAF (Pegasus-type launcher, air-launch missiles), U.S. Navy, and Ballistic Missile Defense Organization (BMDO) missile systems (e.g., for such applications asPatriot-type Defense Systems, Navy Area Defense, and the Theater High-Altitude Area Defense System), and experimental vehicles like NASA X43B.