Editing Scramjet (section)

===Before 2000===
The [[Bell X-1]] attained [[Supersonic speed#Supersonic flight|supersonic flight]] in 1947 and, by the early 1960s, rapid progress toward faster aircraft suggested that operational aircraft would be flying at "hypersonic" speeds within a few years. Except for specialized rocket research vehicles like the [[North American X-15]] and other rocket-powered [[spacecraft]], aircraft top speeds have remained level, generally in the range of Mach{{nbsp}}1 to Mach{{nbsp}}3.

During the US aerospaceplane program, between the 1950s and the mid 1960s, [[Alexander Kartveli]] and [[Antonio Ferri]] were proponents of the scramjet approach.

In the 1950s and 1960s, a variety of experimental scramjet engines were built and ground tested in the US and the UK. Antonio Ferri successfully demonstrated a scramjet producing net thrust in November 1964, eventually producing 517 pounds-force (2.30&nbsp;kN), about 80% of his goal. In 1958, an analytical paper discussed the merits and disadvantages of supersonic combustion ramjets.<ref name="weber">{{cite journal|last1=Weber|first1=Richard J.|last2=Mackay|first2=John S.|title=An Analysis of Ramjet Engines Using Supersonic Combustion|url=https://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=19930085282&hterms=weber+mackay&qs=N%3D0%26Ntk%3DAll%26Ntt%3Dweber%2520mackay%26Ntx%3Dmode%2520matchallpartial%26Nm%3D123%7CCollection%7CNASA%2520STI%7C%7C17%7CCollection%7CNACA|website=ntrs.nasa.gov|date=September 1958|publisher=NASA Scientific and Technical Information|access-date=3 May 2016}}</ref> In 1964, [[Frederick S. Billig]] and Gordon L. Dugger submitted a patent application for a supersonic combustion ramjet based on Billig's PhD thesis. This patent was issued in 1981 following the removal of an order of secrecy.<ref name="UMD">{{cite web |url=http://www.eng.umd.edu/ihof/inductees/billig.html |title=Frederick S. Billig, Ph.D. |work=The Clark School Innovation Hall of Fame |publisher=[[University of Maryland]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100609221913/http://www.eng.umd.edu/ihof/inductees/billig.html |archive-date=9 June 2010 |access-date=30 April 2010 }}</ref>

In 1981, tests were made in Australia under the guidance of Professor Ray Stalker in the T3 ground test facility at ANU.<ref name="aus">{{cite news |url=https://www.uq.edu.au/news/article/2002/07/milestones-history-of-scramjets |title=Milestones in the history of scramjets |work=UQ News |publisher=[[University of Queensland]] |date=27 July 2002 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160211221907/https://www.uq.edu.au/news/article/2002/07/milestones-history-of-scramjets |archive-date=11 February 2016 |access-date=11 February 2016 }}</ref>

The first successful flight test of a scramjet was performed as a joint effort with [[NASA]], over the Soviet Union in 1991. It was an axisymmetric hydrogen-fueled dual-mode scramjet developed by [[Central Institute of Aviation Motors]] (CIAM), Moscow in the late 1970s, but modernized with a FeCrAl alloy on a converted SM-6 missile to achieve initial flight parameters of Mach 6.8, before the scramjet flew at Mach 5.5. The scramjet flight was flown captive-carry atop the [[S-200 (missile)|SA-5]] [[surface-to-air missile]] that included an experimental flight support unit known as the "Hypersonic Flying Laboratory" (HFL), "Kholod".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Roudakov |first1=Alexander S. |last2=Schickhmann |first2=Y. |last3=Semenov |first3=Vyacheslav L. |last4=Novelli |first4=Ph. |last5=Fourt |first5=O. |title=44th Congress of the International Astronautical Federation |chapter=Flight Testing an Axisymmetric Scramjet – Recent Russian Advances |volume=10 |location=Graz, Austria |publisher=International Astronautical Federation |year=1993 }}</ref>

Then, from 1992 to 1998, an additional six flight tests of the axisymmetric high-speed scramjet-demonstrator were conducted by CIAM together with France and then with [[NASA]].<ref name="AIAA 96-4572">{{cite web |url=http://www.nasa.gov/centers/dryden/pdf/88431main_H-2115.pdf |title=Future Flight Test Plans of an Axisymmetric Hydrogen-Fueled Scramjet Engine on the Hypersonic Flying Laboratory |last1=Roudakov |first1=Alexander S. |last2=Semenov |first2=Vyacheslav L. |last3=Kopchenov |first3=Valeriy I. |last4=Hicks |first4=John W. |work=7th International Spaceplanes and Hypersonics Systems & Technology Conference November 18–22, 1996/Norfolk, Virginia |publisher=[[AIAA]] |date=1996 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160212141135/http://www.nasa.gov/centers/dryden/pdf/88431main_H-2115.pdf |archive-date=12 February 2016 |access-date=12 February 2016 }}</ref><ref name="NASA/TP-1998-206548">{{cite web |url=http://www.nasa.gov/centers/dryden/pdf/88580main_H-2243.pdf |title=Recent Flight Test Results of the Joint CIAMNASA Mach 6.5 Scramjet Flight Program |last1=Roudakov |first1=Alexander S. |last2=Semenov |first2=Vyacheslav L. |last3=Hicks |first3=John W. |work=Central Institute of Aviation Motors, Moscow, Russia/NASA Dryden Flight Research Center Edwards, California, USA |publisher=[[NASA]] Center for AeroSpace Information (CASI) |date=1998 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160212144411/http://www.nasa.gov/centers/dryden/pdf/88580main_H-2243.pdf |archive-date=12 February 2016 |access-date=12 February 2016 }}</ref> Maximum flight speed greater than Mach{{nbsp}}6.4 was achieved and scramjet operation during 77 seconds was demonstrated. These flight test series also provided insight into autonomous hypersonic flight controls.