Wright-Pat scramjet earns X-plane status from the Pentagon

Posted on: Dec. 23rd, 2005 || Source: aimpoints.hq.af.mil | E-mail Article | Print Article

WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE | The Pentagon has given X-plane status to a $212 million program aimed at test-flying a revolutionary jet engine developed at Wright-Patterson, the Air Force Research Laboratory announced this week.

The designation puts the project in the ranks of other legendary flight research programs that began with the X-1 rocket plane Chuck Yeager flew to break the sound barrier in 1947.

Lab research indicates the engine, known as a scramjet, can propel an aircraft at more than five times the speed of sound — faster than any other airplane powered by an engine burning petroleum-based jet fuel.

Researchers hope to fly five to eight unmanned X-51As at speeds up to seven times the speed of sound, or about 4,600 miles per hour.

An AFRL announcement said the flights are scheduled for December 2008 through January 2009. Funding comes from the Air Force and the Pentagon's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.

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