Andrew Mollet/TOKYO
An aircraft-industry panel advising Japan's Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) has approved a budget request for fiscal 1998 which includes ´3.2 billion ($26 million) for continued research and development on a Mach 5 engine known as HYPR. In 1996, the ministry spent ´3.75 billion on the project.
The Society of Japanese Aerospace Companies, which is running the HYPR project, says that following the recent completion of tests on a turbo engine at General Electric's test site in Cincinnati, USA, noise tests are scheduled for the second half of 1998, followed by combined-cycle tests at the beginning of 1999.
"However, where the project goes from there is still under discussion, given that present airframes cannot support Mach 5," says the Society. "We are a long way from seeing any serious application."
Nevertheless, the proposed funding allocation for the HYPR - which will be presented to Japan's parliament for ratification in April 1998 - includes ´850 million in government subsidies for the development of materials capable of withstanding the temperatures in supersonic flight.
This is an area which has drawn collaborative interest from aircraft and material firms, and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI), in conjunction with Toray Industries and Mitsui Toatsu Chemicals, hopes to come up with a carbon-fibre compound alloy for the task.
MITI is also funding a supersonic transport project and expects a 1:8-scale unmanned prototype to be built within five years, for which engine development involves MHI, Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries, General Electric, Pratt & Whitney and Rolls-Royce.
The ministry intends to continue feasibility studies of a new regional jet, but has halved the proposed budget to ´170 million. The fiscal 1998 budgetary requests for the aircraft industry totals ´8.39 billion - ´167 million less than for 1997.
Source: Flight International
