You sure those two little boosters have enough “Umph” to get it up to its full effective ramjet operational speed?
If it was intended to operate subsonicly, that might work; but it’s optimized to fly at over Mach 3 at low altitude, and the entire intake duct geometry is going to be based on its cruise speed. Those make it look like they might get it up to 200-300 MPH, but I think its going to fall out of the sky once they separate due to insufficient airflow through the reactor to generate enough thrust to keep it airborne and allow it to accelerate up to full operational speed.
You would think that you would at least want them to get it going supersonically, and probably near to Mach 3, like the big booster on the Navaho.
I mean, seriously… that Tory reactor isn’t going to be light, and unlike the Snark, this thing doesn’t have a turbojet in it that can operate at low speeds efficiently.
Take a look at where the CG is on that thing even with all the warheads up front if you want to know just how much the reactor is going to weigh.
Maybe the boosters have very high thrust for short duration to get it moving, but if that’s the case you would expect them to be a lot squatter in design, with swept-back fins to cut down drag as it went transonic.
For comparison, note how big the four boosters on a Bristol Bloodhound were in in relation to the missile to get it up to effective ramjet operational speed: http://farm1.static.flickr.com/204/461327860_addee94eb4.jpg
…and it topped out at Mach 2.7 at high altitude.
You sure those two little boosters have enough “Umph” to get it up to its full effective ramjet operational speed?
If it was intended to operate subsonicly, that might work; but it’s optimized to fly at over Mach 3 at low altitude, and the entire intake duct geometry is going to be based on its cruise speed. Those make it look like they might get it up to 200-300 MPH, but I think its going to fall out of the sky once they separate due to insufficient airflow through the reactor to generate enough thrust to keep it airborne and allow it to accelerate up to full operational speed.
You would think that you would at least want them to get it going supersonically, and probably near to Mach 3, like the big booster on the Navaho.
I mean, seriously… that Tory reactor isn’t going to be light, and unlike the Snark, this thing doesn’t have a turbojet in it that can operate at low speeds efficiently.
Take a look at where the CG is on that thing even with all the warheads up front if you want to know just how much the reactor is going to weigh.
Maybe the boosters have very high thrust for short duration to get it moving, but if that’s the case you would expect them to be a lot squatter in design, with swept-back fins to cut down drag as it went transonic.
For comparison, note how big the four boosters on a Bristol Bloodhound were in in relation to the missile to get it up to effective ramjet operational speed:
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/204/461327860_addee94eb4.jpg
…and it topped out at Mach 2.7 at high altitude.