Mientras las grandes compa\u00f1\u00edas de defensa de EUA, contin\u00faan trabajando para superar los desaf\u00edos que presentan las tecnolog\u00edas relacionadas con el desarrollo de vectores que vuelen en r\u00e9gimen hipers\u00f3nico, una peque\u00f1a compa\u00f1\u00eda Australiana, HYPERSONIX, ha presentado un desarrollo verdaderamente innovador. Consiste en un motor del tipo Scramjet, totalmente fabricado con \u201c3D printing\u201d, que utiliza Hidr\u00f3geno como propulsante. Pero adem\u00e1s del sistema de fabricaci\u00f3n, un aspecto diferencial y tal vez el m\u00e1s destacado, es que el motor es reutilizable. Esto le otorga la posibilidad de empleo dual, al ser especialmente apto para el \u00e1rea espacial, en misiones tales como colocaci\u00f3n de peque\u00f1os sat\u00e9lites en \u00f3rbita.<\/p>\n
SYDNEY: As the huge American defense primes struggle to overcome the technical and manufacturing challenges of building hypersonic weapons, a small civilian Australian company, Hypersonix, may have a shot at improving America\u2019s quest for a successful weapon.<\/p>\n
The Hypersonix system, which was briefed to senior American officials in February, appears to offer several advantages over the more complex US systems. The company, which claims the vehicle\u2019s scramjet motor can be 3D printed (additive manufacturing<\/a>\u00a0for the purists) in just three weeks, expects first launch of its system next year. In the meantime, Hypersonix has performed a number of shock tunnel tests at the University of Queensland and done extensive modelling on the first version of the vehicle, known as the DART AE.<\/p>\n This positive Australian news stands in pretty stark contrast to the news from America, where Lockheed Martin\u2019s flagship hypersonic weapon, the Air-Launched Rapid Response Weapon (ARRW), has failed\u00a0three tests in a row<\/a>\u00a0and will have to pass several more to meet\u00a0the\u00a0Pentagon\u2019s goal<\/a>\u00a0of having America\u2019s first combat-ready hypersonic weapon ready for initial production by Sept. 30.<\/p>\n The stakes for Lockheed appear to have grown even higher with the release of the Pentagon\u2019s fiscal 2023 budget request on Monday, with a US Air Force official saying the service no longer plans to procure ARRW in the coming year.<\/p>\n The Hypersonix scramjet engine can be 3D printed using the extremely hard alloy known as Inconel, with some more exotic coatings for the vehicle\u2019s exposed edges. It uses a mechanically simpler hydrogen system for thrust of its engine, which gives it variable speed control and huge range. And the complete DART AE system is designed to be completely reusable.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat this is really about is making the most out of our core technology with fixed geometries and no moving parts. And that compares with other systems out there that have got thousands of moving pieces that are incredibly complex \u2026 that complexity causes real reliability issues,\u201d Hypersonix co-founder Dave Waterhouse told Breaking Defense. \u201cSo we can argue performance reliability, but how that translates in terms of manufacturing, we hadn\u2019t really gone into much detail. So to prove we could do this, we actually 3D printed a working scramjet engine.\u201d<\/p>\n The hydrogen engine is key to the system\u2019s appeal. \u201cAnd because I can turn on and off, I could skip [off the atmosphere]. So, if you can imagine a stone skipping across the waves as kind of what we can do as well. So we turn it on, or we need to turn it on, bounce off the layer of the atmosphere. Turn on again, bounce again. And that means we can get huge distances or very small volumes of fuel. And we\u2019re talking over 1,000 kilometers out of one kilo,\u201d Waterhouse says.<\/p>\n In January, the company signed a teaming agreement with American company Kratos, who are handling integration and providing what is essentially a sounding rocket for the first stage of launch. That gets the system up to Mach 5. Depending on the range, it can achieve a speed of Mach 12 once the hydrogen scramjet engages, Hypersonix says.<\/p>\n This system can be used as a weapon, for the simple reason that the machine\u2019s speed, combined with the mass of the hypersonic vehicle, packs an enormous explosive wallop on its own. But Hypersonix is a civilian company \u2014 so far \u2014 and the system was originally designed to be a \u201cgreen\u201d system to get satellites into space without CO2 emissions, according to company marketing materials.<\/p>\n The small company\u00a0will be part of the Australian display at the annual Space Symposium, with their own booth. Australia is set to make its presence known at the conference event in Colorado Springs, with the largest delegation ever. The head of the Australian Space Agency, Enrico Palermo, and the head of the country\u2019s brand spanking new Defense Space Command, Air Vice Marshal Cath Roberts, are expected to attend.<\/p>\n It won\u2019t be the first time the firm shows off at a US event.\u00a0Waterhouse and his co-founder, Michael Smart, were at the SmallSat Symposium in Silicon Valley in early February, a few days after Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin\u00a0met with defense CEOs<\/a>\u00a0to discuss the pace and effectiveness\u00a0of the US hypersonics effort, so their timing was propitious. Other sources say they spoke with the space head of the Defense Innovation Unit, whose operation might be a good start for such a young and small company with relatively little experience of the defense world.<\/p>\n Reportedly, Hypersonix\u2019s combination of capabilities caught the eye of both senior US defense officials and venture capital investors who were, in the words of one observer, \u201cbesotted.\u201d<\/p>\n A senior Pentagon official, familiar with Hypersonix work,\u00a0said in an email \u201cthey are doing some innovative work and we continue to work closely with Australia in hypersonics.\u201d<\/p>\n Of course, Hypersonix\u2019s work won\u2019t just be of interest to the US. Australia is investing in the technology both in a shared effort with the US and on its own. The Australian effort may already have had some success: Defense Minister Peter Dutton\u00a0announced on January 25<\/a>\u00a0a \u201chighly successful defense flight trial\u201d as part of a program aimed to \u201ccounter hypersonic threats,\u201d although further details have been elusive.<\/p>\n