T:W for rockets vs air-breathing are really skewed by fuel consumption. Falcon 9's Merlins will burn ~25-30k lb fuel (70% launch mass is 1st stage gas?) per mi

T:W for rockets vs air-breathing are really skewed by fuel consumption. Falcon 9's Merlins will burn ~25-30k lb fuel (70% launch mass is 1st stage gas?) per minute (180s total 1st stage time) vs ~1k lb fuel per F119. The jet engine will scorch the rocket in effective T:W for it's short atmospheric burn. More modern F119 has a T:W of about 8. With ceramics and pure focus on re-heat and specific thrust, you can get over T:W of 10 likely. There may be other tricks on fuels besides jet fuel that might even allow more focus on re-heat, making the T:W even higher without necessarily affecting fuel consumption. Going COTS with F119 is interesting, but ceramics might make some game-changers. Ceramic turbine blades and afterburner pipes will drastically lower the weight vs Nickel superalloy parts while lower cost and manufacturing complexity. Turbine blades are really impressive, but it's all cost.