• New dual-mode ramjet/scramjet (DMRJ) engine successfully tested over a wider operating range than previously demonstrated.
  
• Successful testing brings our nation one step closer to developing hypersonic aircraft capable of conventional takeoff and landing.
• Aerojet Rocketdyne has been a leader in developing hypersonic propulsion technologies for more than 30 years.

NASA LANGLEY RESEARCH CENTER, HAMPTON, Va., Oct. 08, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Aerojet Rocketdyne successfully tested a new dual-mode ramjet/scramjet (DMRJ) engine. When combined with a gas turbine engine as part of a turbine-based combined cycle propulsion (TBCC) system, this engine may provide the capability to propel a vehicle from a standstill into the hypersonic flight regime of Mach 5 or higher and back again.

Aerojet Rocketdyne’s new dual-mode ramjet/scramjet undergoes testing in the 8-foot high temperature tunnel at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia

“Developing hypersonic capabilities has recently been cited by Department of Defense officials as the ‘highest technical priority’ for our nation,” said Aerojet Rocketdyne CEO and President Eileen Drake. “Aerojet Rocketdyne is well positioned to support this call to action as we have been developing hypersonic propulsion technologies for more than 30 years. Our scramjet engine powered the record-setting test flights of the X-51A WaveRider, and we have accelerated our development efforts since then. That progress, when combined with the advances we’ve made in additive manufacturing has enabled this next generation of hypersonic propulsion systems.”

The series of tests were conducted as part of an ongoing collaboration with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, NASA and the United States Air Force to develop hypersonic propulsion technologies. These tests also helped validate an advanced analytical tool set developed by Aerojet Rocketdyne that enables precise simulation of complex DMRJ flow fields across a broad scale of applications.

About Aerojet Rocketdyne: Aerojet Rocketdyne, a subsidiary of Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:AJRD), is a world-recognized aerospace and defense leader that provides propulsion systems and energetics to the space, missile defense and strategic systems, and tactical systems areas, in support of domestic and international customers. For more information, visit www.Rocket.com and www.AerojetRocketdyne.com. Follow Aerojet Rocketdyne and CEO Eileen Drake on Twitter at @AerojetRdyne and @DrakeEileen.

Media Contacts:
Todd McConnell, Aerojet Rocketdyne, 561-882-5395
todd.mcconnell@rocket.com
Bill Bigelow, Aerojet Rocketdyne, 256-468-8194
william.bigelow@rocket.com

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/513fe842-96fa-48e6-91f0-bf2aa39d425e