Not all missiles that reach speeds above Mach 5 can be called "hypersonic weapons." Generally speaking, traditional missiles can be divided into two categories: cruise missiles and ballistic missiles.
The flight principle of a cruise missile is closer to that of an airplane. Its trajectory is basically within the atmosphere, and the flight resistance is huge. Therefore, its speed performance is relatively average. Most cruise missiles are at the subsonic level. For example, the speed of the "Tomahawk" cruise missile across the sea is only Mach 0.8.
But its advantage is that it can perform flexible high-overload maneuvers like an airplane, thereby reducing the probability of being intercepted.
The flight principle of a ballistic missile is closer to that of a rocket. After taking off, the ballistic missile will break through the atmosphere and glide for a long distance outside the atmosphere with almost no air resistance. It will not re-enter the atmosphere until it is close to the target and carry out a downward attack.
Therefore, the flight speed of a ballistic missile can easily exceed the upper limit of a cruise missile. However, since the flight trajectory of a ballistic missile is approximately parabolic, it is easy to predict the trajectory, and the risk of the anti-missile system calculating the trajectory for interception is greater. This was an unavoidable flaw before.
The main reason for this limitation is the fuel limitations of ballistic missiles. To achieve the maximum possible range, they must strictly adhere to a parabola. If maneuvering to change trajectory consumes a large amount of fuel, an intercontinental missile may become a long-range missile, and a long-range missile may become a medium-range missile.
The second reason is the imperfect control technology, materials and processes.
Repeatedly traversing the atmosphere and precisely hitting the target at the end requires advanced control methods and extremely high measurement and control accuracy. At the same time, re-entry into the atmosphere requires the missile itself to withstand high temperatures.
Therefore, for a considerable period of time, it will be impossible to change the trajectory of this long-range missile in the mid-course.
Wu Tong certainly wasn't satisfied with the status quo. Simply increasing the range wouldn't require her to go to great lengths; switching to N24 high-energy fuel would suffice. She was committed to changing this situation. Furthermore, her genius predecessors had already made significant breakthroughs, and Qian's ballistics played an indispensable role.
However, due to the difficulty in applying Qian's ballistics, there has not been any breakthrough in its application in China. Wu Tong wants to build on this foundation and improve the application of Qian's ballistics, making a zero leap in its application and allowing Qian's ballistics to demonstrate its brilliant achievements of deterrence and unstoppability.
In the previous discussion with Lu Xiao, Wu Tong discovered the waverider warhead design, which also helps to increase the trajectory change capability of the new ballistic missile and accumulate power for it.
Wu Tong felt that simply optimizing the warhead wasn't enough, so she added a body-boosting design. After careful deduction and simulation, she ultimately settled on a design that incorporated Qian's ballistics theory and a separate booster section.
After ignition, the missile will quickly rise to near-space, the waverider will separate from the booster stage, and it will maneuver at hypersonic speed in the dense atmosphere. It can make multiple jumps at the edge of the atmosphere and within the atmosphere, and it can also make large-scale lateral maneuvers within the atmosphere or inside and outside the atmosphere, changing the parabola of the mid-section into a serpentine maneuvering curve that repeatedly passes through the atmosphere and space. The waverider warhead can also automatically evade anti-missile systems and carry out a top-down strike on predetermined targets.
Moreover, after the waverider's ascent stage thrusters are separated, it can re-enter the atmosphere and begin hypersonic gliding based on the diffraction of Qian's trajectory without the need for inertial ballistic flight as before. This gliding flight is located at the edge of the atmosphere or within the atmosphere. Therefore, for the existing anti-missile system designed mainly to intercept ballistic missile warheads, it will become a difficult target to deal with and become an uninterceptable existence. Moreover, the speed will be beyond the reach of the entire world within an hour.
Such a design has extremely high requirements for kinetic energy and materials.
However, Wu Tong was least worried about these two challenges. For her, the most difficult thing was the lack of direction.
With the general design direction in mind, Wu Tong continued to refine the materials and quickly finalized the carbon fiber composite material used for the wings and vertical stabilizer, along with the crucial heat dissipation structure design. This, combined with Wu Tong's upgraded ultra-high-temperature-resistant coating, resulted in the entire missile's heat-resistant material being ready.
On the one hand, protection is carried out, and material research and development are in place; on the other hand, guidance is carried out, and the cooling and heat dissipation structure design is laid out. Wu Tong has made great use of the two-way frontal combination.
Now that the materials are ready, the next step is to tackle the engine.
From fighter jet engines to air-to-air missile engines, Wu Tong has been accumulating experience in the aerospace engine sector without stopping. In this sector, she can truly be said to be a person with profound experience and is second to none.
Traditional engine fuel is limited. After the development of N24 super fuel, catapult fuel is no longer restricted. With the same fuel, they have the basis for changing trajectory and increasing consumption while keeping the range unchanged.
The scramjic dual-pulse compression engine can be further optimized for use on the PL-17, but for the DF-17, it needs to be further simplified to retain the supersonic and high-speed combustion ramjet kinetic energy. The structure should be simple in style, without rotating compressor parts, and the propulsion efficiency should be kept very high.
Wu Tong listed her requirements for the engine one by one. Behind the simple structure lies the huge challenge in the working principle. Step by step, she drew the blueprint of the engine she needed, and gradually improved and filled it in. Her eyes lit up, and she had a clear direction to move forward.
Conventional turbojet engines burn at subsonic speeds within their combustion chambers. However, the flames of new scramjet engines burn at hypersonic speeds within their combustion chambers, making ignition extremely difficult. It's as difficult as striking a match in a Category 12 typhoon.
The oxygen in the atmosphere can be used as an oxidant, and only fuel needs to be carried to increase the propulsion efficiency, which is expected to reach more than 4 times the rocket propulsion.
In this way, when flying in the atmosphere, the aerodynamic control surfaces can provide control torque, allowing the missile to change its attack target during flight.
Pneumatically controlled rudder surfaces are another key component!
This is also the key to achieving the fusion of ballistic and cruise missile capabilities, enabling the DF-17 to achieve both the trajectory-changing capabilities of a cruise missile and the exceptional speed of a ballistic missile. The scramjet engine combined with hyperfuel gives the new DF-17 exceptional power, providing the necessary power and fuel to support maneuverable trajectory changes.
For Wu Tong, the entire research and development process is a game of passing levels. Old problems are resolved and new problems arise. After passing through one level after another and assembling into a whole, it finally leads to the door of success. The reward is the successful birth of the results.
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