BrotherofSnake
Junior Member
The U.S. Army is testing a supersonic projectile that could drastically increase the killing power of future tanks.
The Armaments Research Development and Engineering Center, at Picatinny Arsenal, N.J., will test a supersonic combustion ramjet—scramjet—designed to improve the penetrating power of tank guns.
The scramjet, like common jet engines, burns fuel mixed with compressed atmospheric oxygen. However, unlike traditional jets, the scramjet has no compressor disks or other moving parts to compress the air. Hot air entering the scramjet inlets at four times the speed of sound, ignites the fuel and sustains combustion, so the scramjet itself contains pure fuel without wasting weight and volume of a separate oxidizer.
As it emerges ignited from a cannon barrel, a scramjet-powered tank round could produce thrust in flight to extend its range or sustain its penetrating power all the way to the target.
Source:
The Armaments Research Development and Engineering Center, at Picatinny Arsenal, N.J., will test a supersonic combustion ramjet—scramjet—designed to improve the penetrating power of tank guns.
The scramjet, like common jet engines, burns fuel mixed with compressed atmospheric oxygen. However, unlike traditional jets, the scramjet has no compressor disks or other moving parts to compress the air. Hot air entering the scramjet inlets at four times the speed of sound, ignites the fuel and sustains combustion, so the scramjet itself contains pure fuel without wasting weight and volume of a separate oxidizer.
As it emerges ignited from a cannon barrel, a scramjet-powered tank round could produce thrust in flight to extend its range or sustain its penetrating power all the way to the target.
Source: