China Builds World’s First Boron Jet Engine To Launch Underwater Weapons At Hypersonic Speeds
Chinese scientists have already created the revolutionary engine they envisioned two years ago. It was originally intended for use in hypersonic weapons but will be modified for underwater use to strike targets at extremely high speeds and long distances.
In 2022, researchers at the National University of Defense Technology in Changsha, Hunan, considered using the engine underwater. They added that a medium-range vehicle powered by the engine could move at supersonic speeds in the air and the water, targeting aircraft carriers at more than 200 knots.
The team said the engine achieved 90% combustion efficiency underwater in laboratory tests, and its use could change future wars. No country is currently capable of countering such weapons.
The engine is mainly powered by boron, which is used in the ramjets of some Chinese hypersonic weapons. When boron comes into contact with oxygen, it burns violently, accelerating the rocket to more than 5 times the speed of sound.
However, the biggest difficulty the researchers face is operating it underwater.
To do this, they modified the design, optimizing the amount of water vapor injected into the combustion chamber and the proportion of other components, such as aluminum and magnesium, in the fuel so that boron burns more intensely in the vapor.
In a research paper published in the Journal of Propulsion Technology, the project team led by Professor Huang Liya said that in tests conducted in the laboratory to stimulate the underwater environment, they found a visible yellow flame in the tail near the engine nozzle exit.
The test showed that the engine ran smoothly and remained stable. The data collected showed that the exhaust jet speed exceeded Mach 3, and the combustion efficiency was 87%.
In addition, when the boron content in the fuel increased, its specific impulse increased to 4,712 Newton seconds per kilogram, one-third higher than SpaceX’s latest Raptor rocket engine.
The team also said that boron has many applications in medium-range vehicle propulsion systems.
They concluded that the engine achieved stable operation and will increase the boron content in the fuel formulation to improve its performance.
