North American Wave Engine Corp. (WEC) received an order from the US Air Force to develop a false air target. For its flight, it is supposed to use a pulsed jet engine.
The $ 1 million plan calls for the creation and demonstration of a universal air-based platform (VALP), which is part of the US Air Force's efforts to develop new technologies that are crucial for the air combat of the future.
VALP from Wave Engine Corporation is primarily designed as a bait and uses engines that are the company's own development. The universal air-based platform is designed to demonstrate a powerful and economical power plant for future generations of high-performance aircraft (primarily UAVs and cruise missiles).
As is known, pulsed jet engines were used during the Second World War, powering the V-1 (V-1) projectile aircraft of Nazi Germany. Being, in fact, the first CD ,the V-1s were launched from occupied France at facilities in the UK.
Turbines became the preferred form of jet propulsion during the Cold War, as pulse engines are usually less efficient and louder. The British called the V-1 a "rumbling bomb" because of the noise it created in flight. According to the WEC, the company has made improvements that give pulsed jet engines advantages over turbines.
It is claimed that the proposed technology provides reactive characteristics and full digital electronic control (FADEC) in a very cost-effective power plant that does not require moving parts. «Wave Engine Corp's technology allows us to reduce the cost and complexity of jet propulsion by an order of magnitude, making it practical for a wide range of aviation platforms for which a jet engine was previously unavailable."
The US Air Force is funding several projects to develop inexpensive jet engines for cheap KR and limited-use UAVs (for example, kamikaze drones attacking in a swarm).
Thus, the Air Force Research Laboratory finances the development and testing of the Gray Wolf spacecraft,equipped with an inexpensive TDI-J85 jet turbine with a thrust of 0.89 kN from Kratos Defense. The "Gray Wolf" is considered by the US Air Force as a means of attacking integrated air defense systems.
Testing of a pulsed jet engine on a glider
According to the WEC management, VALP is an air – based UAV, which will mainly be used as a bait. Launched from a fighter plane, the traps can be used to suppress the enemy's air defense systems or to cause its reaction and, thus, reveal its positions, which will allow the main forces of the US Air Force to attack the identified targets.
It reports that in 2019, WEC received $ 2.85 million from the US Department of Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) for the further development of its technology. In 2020, the company tested its pulse jet engine on a glider for the first time.
According to the materials of the resource flugrevue.de
