China’s Hypersonic Wind Tunnel Leaves America in Dust – BGR

Since passing its final tests in May 2023, China’s JF-22 air tunnel has been opened for hypersonic tests, enabling the country to take advantage of its insane simulation capabilities. Although China is not the only country that has built and started using its own wind tunnel, the JF-22 is now well known around the world for being the fastest tunnel in the world. The tunnel, which began construction in 2018, is 167 meters long and four meters wide. It is designed to simulate the environment in which a spacecraft re-enters Earth’s atmosphere, which would allow China to rapidly accelerate the development of its various hypersonic flight systems (which may include hypersonic missiles that can reach the US).

Although impressive, the JF-22 is not the world’s first supersonic wind tunnel. Several others have managed to hit at least Mach 20 over the years. However, it appears to be the first to be able to simulate experiences up to Mach 30 – which puts it above what is believed to be the most advanced wind tunnel in the United States, LENS II, which can only reach Mach 7. In addition, reports suggest that the JF-22 of China can also run for an average of 130 milliseconds, while LENS milliseconds has only been reported for 30 times.

To help put everything into perspective, Mach 30 is actually 30 times the speed of sound, or about 23,000 miles per hour. That’s insanely fast. NASA’s space shuttle program – which spanned nearly 30 years – often reached speeds close to Mach 25 when entering Earth’s atmosphere. So, being able to simulate speeds higher than that speed would help China in its quest to develop a powerful, fast spaceship designed to cross the final test line.

However, what really helps separate China’s tunnel from the rest, according to reports, is how it uses a unique set of chemicals to create its hypersonic conditions. Instead of relying on the conventional compressors seen in many other air jets, reports say China’s JF-22 uses chemical detonation instead. In addition, it is reported to be able to produce up to 15 gigawatts of power. That is about 70% of the power installed in the Three Gorges Dam, which is the world’s largest hydroelectric dam and some even believe that it slows down the rotation of the Earth. These comments have led some to say that China’s wind tunnel is “20 to 30 years ahead” of western development (via the South China Morning Post).

What is important to note here, however, is that many of America’s wind tunnels are designed solely to test Earth-based aircraft that need to reach hypersonic speeds. So, while they can be used to test spacecraft design, again, they are not designed for high speed, at least based on all publicly available information. In addition, some are concerned about the state of the air chemistry that the chemical explosion may cause, and that it may not be a direct reflection of the actual aircraft.

Of course, there is a lot going on behind the scenes, and much of it is not available to the public. We know that NASA has conducted its first operational experiments with wind tunnels such as the Tunnel Plan Wind Tunnel, located at the NASA Ames Research Center. the tunnel was only capable of reaching Mach 0.2 to Mach 3.5. However, more digital simulations were able to help bridge the gap in knowledge and information needed to attempt the craft. Whether we will ever see an American tunnel that can stand up to what China has achieved is hard to say, especially since it appears that the United States Department of Defense was discussing moving away from physical testing a few years ago. But, America will have to do something if it really wants to face the problems associated with hypersonic jets that it is currently facing.