Ramjet

Background

The ramjet was designed in 1913 by French inventor René Lorin, who was granted a patent for his device. In 1915, Hungarian inventor Albert Fonó devised a solution for increasing the range of artillery, comprising a gun-launched projectile united with a ramjet propulsion unit. Fonó submitted his invention to the Austro-Hungarian Army, but the proposal was rejected. After World War I, Fonó returned to the subject.

In May 1928 he described an 'air-jet engine' as suitable for high-altitude supersonic aircraft, in a German patent application. In an additional patent application, he adapted the engine for subsonic speed. The patent was granted in 1932.

Soviet Union

In the Soviet Union, a theory of supersonic ramjet engines was presented in 1928 by Boris Stechkin. The first engine, the GIRD-04, was designed by I.A. Merkulov and tested in April 1933. The GIRD-08 phosphorus-fueled ramjet was tested by firing it from an artillery cannon. In 1939, Merkulov did further ramjet tests using a two-stage rocket, the R-3.

He developed the first ramjet engine for use as an auxiliary motor of an aircraft, the DM-1. The more widely accepted first flight of a dedicated ramjet aircraft is the Leduc 0.10 in 1949. Merkulov designed a ramjet fighter 'Samolet D' in 1941, which was never completed. Two of his DM-4 engines were installed on the Yak-7 PVRD fighter during World War II.

In 1940, the Kostikov-302 experimental plane was designed, powered by a liquid fuel rocket for take-off and ramjet engines for flight. That project was cancelled in 1944. In 1947, Mstislav Keldysh proposed a long-range antipodal bomber, similar to the Sänger-Bredt bomber, but powered by ramjet instead of rocket.

In 1954, NPO Lavochkin and the Keldysh Institute began development of a Mach 3 ramjet-powered cruise missile, Burya. This project competed with the R-7 ICBM developed by Sergei Korolev, but was cancelled in 1957. Several ramjets were designed, built, and ground-tested at the Kawasaki Aircraft Company's facility in Gifu during the Second World War. In 1936, Hellmuth Walter constructed a test engine powered by natural gas.

Did You Know?

• The US Navy's RIM-8 Talos missile, first introduced in the late 1950s, was the first ship-launched missile to destroy an enemy aircraft in combat, shooting down a Vietnamese MiG in 1968.