Alan Tovey – The Telegraph Aug 21, 2020

An artists impression of Reaction-Engines aircraft. Click to enlarge

Electric airliners and jets flying at five times the speed of sound could be a reality within a decade after Rolls-Royce linked up with Reaction Engines, a British business which is pushing the limits of aerospace technology.

The companies have agreed a strategic partnership to investigate how Reaction Engines’ designs can be used in high-speed aircraft, and how its groundbreaking cooling technology can be integrated into military and civil aircraft.

Oxfordshire-based Reaction Engines has developed a “Sabre” engine capable of operating at more than 2,500mph and which combines a conventional gas turbine with the properties of a rocket. This means it can work like a normal jet but switch to rocket-mode fuelled by liquified oxygen at high altitude where the air thins out.

A key part of the design is a super-efficient heat exchanger which is light and compact enough to be used in aerospace.

Managing heat generated at high speeds is a vital for supersonic flight and also has spin-off uses such as cooling, a major challenge for developing electric aircraft. It has extensive applications in the automotive world.

Mark Thomas, chief executive, said: “Our design has demonstrated cooling of 900C in less time than the blink of an eye. We can take air from temperature of molten lava to a level where you could comfortably stand in it.”

The partnership will also see Rolls pump £20m into privately owned Reaction Engines, making the famed engineer one of its biggest shareholders, alongside BAE Systems. Other investors include Boeing and investment fund Baillie Gifford.

Mr Thomas added: “This is an endorsement of our technology from one of the biggest companies in the industry at a time when the whole sector is going a tough period.

“It’s a transformational deal that will allow us to access multiple sectors. Barriers to entry are high but having a partner as large as Rolls helps remove them.”

The tie-up means Reaction Engines’ technology could be test flown with a couple of years, he said, and predicted it could be in military or civil use within a decade.

Rolls started working with Reaction Engines since 2018 under a Ministry of Defence contract to investigate high-speed aircraft but the announcement widens the arrangement to include civil aircraft.

Despite Rolls’s current troubles with the collapse in demand for air travel caused by coronavirus, the blue-chip company has recently announced agreements with Virgin Galactic and Boom Supersonic to help power their small passenger jets which are intended to fly faster than the speed of sound.

The investment comes with Rolls in the process of cutting 15pc of its staff, some 9,000 workers worldwide, as it battles the impact of the pandemic. A £1.5bn fundraising and asset sales are also being considered by the company.

Next week the famed engineer is due to announce interim results which are expected to show a huge loss after demand for its engines halved over the first six months of the year.

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