US software fuels China’s military research, despite Washington ban
- Chinese research paper reveals hypersonic weapons study used aerodynamic simulation package sold by American company
- Academic papers and media reports show ‘entity list’ is failing to halt access to US technology in China
A research paper published in the Chinese Journal of Aeronautics on Tuesday revealed US software had been used to simulate the aerodynamics of a hypersonic missile capable of taking out all existing defence systems.
Zhang Feng, a professor with the National University of Defence Technology in Changsha, in the central Chinese province of Hunan, led the research team which set out to identify how to control manoeuvrability at five times the speed of sound or above.
According to the research paper, the team used software provided by Ansys, a US company based in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, for the bulk of its aerodynamic simulations which set out to solve the problem of controlling flight at such intense speeds.
Any moving part on the surface of a missile or aircraft travelling at hypersonic speed is subject to intense stress and heat but the researchers found the tiny gap between fin and missile body was capable of generating enough extremely hot air turbulence to burn the fin. The finding recalled a US X-51A hypersonic vehicle which crashed during a test flight in 2012 due to a “faulty fin”.
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