David Wright

MIT Laboratory for Nuclear Security and Policy

Zoom link: https://mit.zoom.us/j/91993642635

Abstract

Hypersonic weapons are missiles that travel with speeds greater than Mach 5 and use atmospheric forces to glide at low altitudes. Boost-glide vehicles (BGV) use rocket boosters to reach high speeds and then glide unpowered to their targets. Hypersonic cruise missiles (HCM) are also boosted to high speeds but use an engine called a scramjet to provide power during part of the atmospheric flight. The US, Russia, and China are all developing both BGVs and HCMs.

This talk will give an introduction to scramjets and explain why integrating them into hypersonic weapons constrains the operation of these weapons in ways that limit their utility compared to other types of weapons for the same missions. As part of that analysis, we model the X-51A HCM vehicle that the United States flight tested in 2010-13, and use that model as a basis for assessing the potential performance of near-term HCMs for military use. We conclude that while scramjets, which are not a mature technology, may become useful for space-launch and possibly other applications, they are not well-suited to hypersonic weapons.

Bio

David Wright is a researcher in the MIT Laboratory for Nuclear Security and Policy. From 1992 to 2020 he was a researcher with the Global Security Program at the Union of Concerned Scientists, serving as co-director of the program from 2002 to 2020. Previously he held research positions in the Defense and Arms Control/Security Studies Program at MIT, the Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, and the Federation of American Scientists. He received his PhD in theoretical condensed matter physics from Cornell University in 1983 and worked as a research physicist until 1988. From 1990 to 2019, he was a primary organizer of the International Summer Symposiums on Science and World Affairs, which fostered cooperation among scientists around the world working on arms control and security issues. In 2001, he was a co-recipient of the American Physical Society’s Joseph A. Burton Forum Award for his arms control research and his work with international scientists. He is a Fellow of the American Physical Society.