RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The Brazilian Air Force (FAB) completed the first flight test of its 14-X hypersonic aircraft engine. The launch of the demonstrator took place on December 14 from the Alcântara Launch Center (CLA) as part of Operation Cruzeiro.
Through the launch of various types of demonstrators, the start of flight tests is part of the Brazilian Air Force’s Hypersonic Propulsion Project 14-X, coordinated by the Department of Aerospace Science and Technology (DCTA). The project’s main objective is to provide Brazil with this type of technology, making the country a pioneer in using this type of propulsion.
The 14-X Hypersonic Propulsion Project consists of several stages, in which the Brazilian Air Force has set milestones to achieve its strategic objectives for the use of this technology. Launching the first hypersonic engine technology demonstrator, called 14-XS, aims to attain supersonic upward combustion ballistics.
According to the Brazilian Air Force, the 14-XS “accelerated to a speed close to Mach 6 (six times the speed of sound), at an altitude of more than 30 km, employing a Hypersonic Accelerator Vehicle (HAV). The planned trajectory, reaching its apogee at 160 km, covering a total distance of 200 km, until its impact in a safe area in the Atlantic Ocean.”
With the success of the 14-XS flight test, Brazil has reached technological maturity level 7, i.e., it now has a working prototype of a hypersonic scramjet propulsion engine, which has been tested outside laboratory conditions. To this must be added the training of human resources and the construction of infrastructure.
Over the next few months, the Brazilian Air Force will continue testing the following stages of the 14-X Hypersonic Propulsion Project employing several technology demonstrators. These are composed of the following prototypes and models:
- II. 14-XSP: Ascending ballistic flight demonstration of hypersonic aspirated propulsion;
- III. 14-XW: glide demonstration (without propulsion) of a controllable and maneuverable hypersonic vehicle with guidance, navigation, and control (GNC) systems, using advanced materials, during hypersonic flight in the stratosphere; and
- IV. 14-XWP: The autonomous flight of a controllable and maneuverable hypersonic vehicle with active hypersonic aspirated propulsion.
14-X PROJECT
The 14-X is a Brazilian hypersonic glide vehicle (HGV) developed by the Aerothermodynamics and Hypersonics Laboratory Henry T. Nagamatsu of the Institute for Advanced Studies (IEAv) and the Brazilian Air Force as part of the PropHiper project equipped with three liquid hydrogen-powered scramjet engines, launched by a VSB-30 rocket, reaching 100,000 feet of altitude and a maximum speed of Mach 10.
The name refers to the 14-bis of the Brazilian inventor and aviation pioneer Alberto Santos-Dumont. The Brazilian Air Force conducted the first qualification test flight of 14-X on December 14, 2021, from Alcântara Space Center.
The technology is considered by Brazil as one of the most efficient means of accessing space in the near future and could be used to place satellites in orbit and make suborbital flights.
It can also be used in other areas, such as developing intercontinental ballistic missiles or civil aviation.