AIRSPIKE - ABILITY TO CREATE SAUCER-SHAPED HYPERSONIC SPACECRAFT

The concept would offer designers the capability to actively control the external aerodynamics and thermodynamics of an advanced trans-atmospheric vehicle by substituting directed energy for mass - typically in the form of a sharp nosed structure.

ELECTROCHROMATIC "INVISIBILITY" PANELS TESTED AT AREA 51

The electrochromatic panels are comprised of thousands of tiny sensors that function as video-cameras that take images of background scenaries, transferring them to the other panels on the other side of the aircraft. This gives the illusion that the aircraft is almost transparent. What the ground observer sees is whatever background images behind (or above) the body of the aircraft that are transposed to the "observer's" side of the body of the aircraft.

PULSE DETONATION WAVE ENGINES

One option for a hypersonic vehicle might be four or six Pulse Detonation Wave Engines (PDWEs), fuelled with liquid methane. As air breathers, these PDWEs could theoretically propel a hypersonic aircraft towards Mach 10 at an altitude in excess of 180,000 feet. RELATED PAGES DONUTS-ON-A-ROPE CONTRAILS

PULSEJET - EXOTIC PROPULSION DESIGN

Pulsejets use the forward speed of the engine and the inlet shape to compress the incoming air, then shutters at the inlet close while fuel is ignited in the combustion chamber and the pressure of the expanding gasses force the jet forward. The shutters then open and the process starts again at a high frequency.

STEALTH TECHNOLOGY

The Stealth program aimed at designing high-performance military aircraft incorporating, among other features, a minimum of metal and with the exterior clad in highly absorbent tiles. The aircraft would be almost invisible to radar and could make most radar-controlled anti-aircraft systems obsolete.