Chinese aerospace engineers have created a new “reusable” air defense system that will protect China from hypersonic missile attacks. Powered by an air-jet engine, a reusable technology, the drone can fly long distances at an acceleration of more than five times the speed of sound.

When the task is completed, “The UAV can return to the airport and prepare for the next mission”said the researchers.

The UAV uses ground-based radar and satellite early warning systems that enable the trajectory of approaching hypersonic missiles to be predicted and neutralize the in-flight danger.

Research team leader Yin Zhongjie of the Shanghai Institute of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, a defense contractor that manufactures drones for the Chinese military, said the effort “faced with a difficult math problem”.

“Current blocking algorithms are written for conventional rocket platforms with rocket engines”– Says the experts of the Zhongjie group. “If these equations were used to plan the flight path of a hypersonic aircraft, it could lose control and even crash”.

Hypersonic engines need high airspeeds to compress hot, fast-flowing air and consume fuel in a combustion chamber devoid of moving parts.

As a result, hypersonic drones can fly farther and with greater efficiency than rocket-powered missiles. These UAVs are also immune to jolts or rolls experienced by missiles, which can dramatically alter airflow and stall the engine.