bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

sponsorType

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Minnie Chan

Researchers in central China have developed a non-carbon-based heat-resistant material with potential for use in hypersonic vehicles, according to Chinese media reports.
The team, led by Professor Fan Jinglian from Central South University in Hunan province, developed a ceramic-metal material that can endure temperatures as high as 3,000 degrees Celsius (5,430 Fahrenheit), according to Hunan Television.
Fan, a top researcher in high-temperature-resistant materials, said the composite could be used in various devices, from engines to space rockets and nuclear reactors.
The new material’s heat resistance also means that it might be suitable for use in hypersonic aircraft, which can heat up to as high as 3,000 degrees Celsius through atmospheric friction.
Some Chinese military tech surpasses US, Pentagon admits, citing hypersonic weapons
The breakthrough by Fan’s group is a departure from the field’s previous focus on carbon-based materials.
“We should make use of our knowledge and turn it into wealth for our society and our country ... so that we can take a leading position [in technology] in the world,” Global Times quoted Fan as saying.
According to the report, Fan’s team, with the support of local government, set up an industrial unit to manufacture the material, supplying it to aerospace and defence enterprises since March.

While the new material is a dual-use technology, military experts said it was too early to say if it would spur a great leap forward in China’s pursuit of hypersonic technology.
Hong Kong-based military analyst Song Zhongping said it would be simpler if the material was only used in rockets, which were generally “disposable”.
“[The technology] would be much more difficult if the material was for use in hypersonic aircraft because it needs to be reusable,” Song said.
“A new military technology should satisfy three criteria: be innovative, of a high standard and of quality materials.
“It can be created if it has all three elements and integrates them successfully and seamlessly.”
In August, China successfully tested the Starry Sky-2, a missile-capable hypersonic aircraft, in northwest China, according to the China Academy of Aerospace Aerodynamics.
China successfully tests Starry Sky-2 hypersonic aircraft
A Beijing-based missile expert said that although China had made great strides in hypersonic technology, it was mainly used in “strategic weapons”.
“Among the hypersonic weapons, the land-based hypersonic missile is the most powerful one,” the expert said. “But the missiles are huge and even China’s biggest military transport aircraft, the Y-20, cannot carry them.”
The expert added that because of the high cost of hypersonic technology, China would only produce a small stockpile of such missiles for deployment in key economic centres such as Zhejiang, Fujian and Guangdong provinces.
According to Song, China was not likely to use hypersonic technology in antisatellite weapons because laser-directed weapons, high-powered microwave beams and other more sophisticated weapons would be better alternatives.


Pentagon says Chinese aircraft carriers, 6th-generation fighters make US ‘vulnerable’

‘Saturation attacks’: drone swarms key for wartime victory, Chinese military paper says

J-16s vs Rafales: Chinese air force puts jets to the war-game test

US lawmakers urge Pentagon to add DeepSeek, Xiaomi to China military-linked firms list

China’s military

Could this new material help China break the hypersonic weapon heat barrier?

Researchers say they have developed a ceramic-metal material that can withstand temperatures up to 3,000 degrees Celsius. Photo: Hunan TV

=====CAPTURE BY CCTV=====Professor Fan Jinglian, the lead scientist who developed the head-resistant material for hypersonic aircraft at the Shangsha-based Central South University in Hunan province. Source: Hunan Satellite TVHANDOUT PHOTO. CAPTURE BY CCTV

Is China getting ready to mass-produce hypersonic vehicles?

An aerospace engine plant on the drawing board in China could lead to mass production of “hypersonic” spacecraft capable of travelling at more than five times the speed of sound. Photo: SCMP Pictures

epa03361981 Undated handout image released by the US Air Force showing the X-51A Waverider, shown under the wing of a B-52 Stratobomber to demonstrate hypersonic flight. Powered by a Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne SJY61 scramjet engine, it is designed to ride on its own shockwave and accelerate to about Mach Six. EPA/US AIR FORCE / HANDOUT EDITORIAL USE ONLY HANDOUT EDITORIAL USE ONLY

A hypersonic weapon test experiment conducted in a wind tunnel at the Institute of Mechanics. Credit: Handout

epa06645105 An undated handout illustration made available by NASA / Lockheed Martin on 04 April 2018 showing NASA's planned Low Boom Flight Demonstration aircraft otherwise known as an X-plane. NASA reports on 03 April 2018 that NASA aeronautics is moving forward with the construction of a piloted X-plane, designed from scratch to fly faster than sound with the latest in quiet supersonic technologies. The new X-plane's mission: provide crucial data that could enable commercial supersonic passenger air travel over land. To that end, NASA on 02 April awarded a 247.5 million US dollar or 201 million euro contract to Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company of Palmdale, California, USA, to build the X-plane and deliver it to the agency's Armstrong Flight Research Center in California by the end of 2021. The awarding of the contract comes after US President Donald J. Trump signed off a federal budget, which fully funded the X-plane. EPA-EFE/NASA / LOCKHEED MARTIN / HANDOUT MANDATORY CREDIT: NAS

Elon Musk of Space X listens as U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a breakfast and listening session with key business leaders on Monday, January 23, 2017 in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, D.C. (Ron Sachs/Pool/CNP/Abaca Press)

HRF5HJ Hyper-X Hypersonic Aircraft

Screen capture from video of a hypersonic vehicle using combined cycle engine under development at China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation. Source: CCTV

Did China put on a show of its Starry Sky-2 hypersonic vehicle just to impress the US?

China said on Monday it had completed a successful test of its Starry Sky-2 hypersonic waverider aircraft. Photo: Handout

epa06898096 A handout still image from a video footage made available 19 July 2018 by the Russian Defense Ministry on its official Youtube page shows Russian Avangard hypersonic strategic missile system equipped with a gliding hypersonic maneuvering warhead preparing for blasting off in Russian territory. The Russian Defense Ministry reports of start of mass production of the hypersonic complex Avangard. EPA-EFE/RUSSIAN DEFENCE MINISTRY PRESS SERVICE / HANDOUT HANDOUT EDITORIAL USE ONLY/NO SALES

China conducts successful hypersonic aircraft test flight. Photo: Handout

China’s second hypersonic glider test fails as PLA trials nuclear weapons delivery system

Falcon HTV-2 hypersonic aircraft developed by the United States. US is the only other nation known to have developed similar technology.

News

China

Military


Researchers say they have developed a ceramic-metal composite that can withstand temperatures up to 3,000 degrees Celsius



Researchers say they have developed a ceramic-metal composite that can withstand temperatures up to 3,000 degrees Celsius.


China technology

Hypersonic missiles and weapons

Could this new material help China break the hypersonic weapon heat barrier?

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;} Researchers say they have developed a ceramic-metal composite that can withstand temperatures up to 3,000 degrees Celsius

Researchers say they have developed a ceramic-metal composite that can withstand temperatures up to 3,000 degrees Celsius