If in the field of aeronautics the airplanes have advanced in terms of speed and passenger transport capacity in the last 50 years, the Drones Universe is in the opposite pole with vertiginous advances. Little more than a year ago there was already talk of a hypersonic drone and now a Chinese start-up points out that One has developed capable of reaching the speed of sound four times.
The unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is being designed by Sichuan Lingkong Tianxing Technology CO, LTD as part of a broader effort to develop a supersonic passenger planeaccording to the company. The drone will make its first flight next year, as military hypersonic technology filters to the commercial sector.
The drone is named after Quantianhou, which means “flying stone monkey”, a name given to Sun Wukong, also known as the mono kingone of the best known figures of Chinese literature and mythology.
Weight 1.5 tons and measures seven meters long, and is propelled by two detonation engines. It can reach a Mach 4.2 cruise speed at an altitude of 20 km. According to Chief Engineer Deng Fan, Cuantianhou will complete his first flight next year, while a high -speed passenger plane called Da Sheng is expected to be called Sun Wukong, Surque the skies for his prototype flight in 2030.
Supersonic technology has been a fundamental component of military hardware and in recent years the commercial sector has been leaked. American emerging companies such as Boom Supersonic and Hermeus are following different technological approaches, and the latter plans launch a hypersonic plane Mach 5while the emerging Swiss company Destinus is exploring propelled hypersonic airplanes by hydreitherGeno However, until now noorn Innovative commercial product.
“From the current perspectives, Hermeus’s progress has been late for at least three years,” Deng said at the press conference.
The company Jindou-400s of the company is an update of its predecessor with design improvements to increase its power-pepper and thrust ratio. It has A multi -ignition technology weighs 100 kg, measures 1.9 meters long and produces 4,000 Newtons.
In October, the Lingkong Tianxing Technology company Test flights of his Yunxing supersonic plane ended To evaluate key technologies such as aerodynamics, heat resistance and control systems. The first flight of a complete prototype of the Yunxing UAV was initially scheduled for 2027, but after several tests and improvements, it has now postponed with an undetermined date yet.
Compared to Yunxing, the quantianhou has been optimized for better aerodynamics. The Yunxing design presented a frontal canard, but this has been eliminated from the quantianhou, and some components have adjusted for a different angle of attack.
“It looks a lot like SR-71 American Blackbird, but its propulsion system, flight and speed altitude are significantly different”, Added Deng. He also added that last year, the team conducted a 45 -second flight test and collected crucial flight parameters. During the test, the UAV amounted about 10 km, with speeds that increased from Mach 3.3 to Mach 4.1.
According to the data, the aircraft also has good fuel efficiency: it used 6 kg during the test, which allowed it to cover a distance of 50 km, equivalent to the fuel consumption of an off -road vehicle, but with a speed 60 times faster.