
The Air Force said Aug. 5 that it recently set a record for the highest thrust produced by an air-breathing hypersonic engine in service history during a nine-month testing period. The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) and Air Force Test Center achieved over 13,000 pounds of thrust from an 18-foot-long Northrop Grumman [NOC]-built scramjet engine during tests at Arnold Air Force Base, Tennessee. The engine successfully lasted for 30 minutes-worth of accumulated combustion time over those nine test months. “After…