4 ms·
EXCELLENT!! Thank you! Please tell me you had some experience with this stuff before busting out a dissertation on of lift-to-drag calculations … So, if we're
by gffrd 4y ago
EXCELLENT!! Thank you!
Please tell me you had some experience with this stuff before busting out a dissertation on of lift-to-drag calculations …
So, if we're constraining ourselves to go the same distance as a cruise missile with the same max weight/dimension, we CAN, but …
- using less fuel
- and at 10x speed
- but have a smaller warhead
So to your original question about whether a scramjet will travel further on the same amount of fuel, the answer does appear to be YES. (But with a smaller warhead, assuming same max weight/dimensions of conventional cruise missile)
So I guess the next question is: if we assume distance and dimension are constraints and we _do_ have an 80% smaller warhead … do we get 80% less damage when it impacts, given that it's traveling at 10x? Or does the speed impact the force of the warhead?
This is fun …
- credit_guy 4y ago> Or does the speed impact the force of the warhead? Absolutely. The energy density of TNT is 4.11 MJ/kg. An object traveling at 2.5 km/s has a kinetic energy (mv^2/2) of 3.12 MJ/kg. If we consider a simple rule of 3 for a cruise missile (1/3 the warhead, 1/3 the fuel, 1/3 the rest of the missile), then the kinetic energy of the warhead and the empty vehicle will be 50% more than the energy of the explosive (if not more). So, even if the warhead is only one fifth of the warhead of a subsonic missile, the total energy delivered on target is one half.