• Advances in aircraft and spacecraft science
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.317-334
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• 2023

This paper presents a basic methodology and a set of numerical tools for the preliminary design of solid-fueled ramjet missiles. An elementary code determines the baseline system configuration comprised of warhead, guidance-control, and propulsion masses and geometries from specific correlations found in the literature. Then, the system is refined with the help of external and internal ballistics codes. Equations of motion are solved for the flight's ascending, cruising, and descending stages and the internal ballistic set of equations designs the ramjet engine based on liquefying fuels. The combined tools sized the booster and the ramjet sustainer engines for a long-range missile, intended to transport 200 kg of payload for more than 300 km range flying near 14,000 m altitude at Mach 3.0. The refined system configuration had 600 mm in diameter and 8,500 mm in length with overall mass of 2,128 kg and 890 kg/m3 density. Ramjet engine propellant mass fraction was estimated as 74%. Increased missile range can be attained with paraffin-polyethylene blend burning at near constant regression rate through primary air mass flow rate control and lateral 2-D air intakes.