"John R Weiss" wrote in message
news:fb37c.49557$_w.810363@attbi_s53...
"Keith Willshaw" wrote...

A ramjet on the other hand could give better range and be less visible
in IR which may well be why the Meteor AAM is being designed round
one. Note though that Meteor has an active radar guidance system.

One problem with ramjets in the past has been the high initial velocity
(supersonic, or near so) required for ignition. Has any progress been
made in
low-speed ignition?


Apparently so

IIRC, the V-2 had a "pulse ramjet" engine, which gave it the
characteristic
sound and its "buzz bomb" moniker. I don't know if that would be suitable
for
AAM use.


The pulse jet isn't really a ramjet , it can run at zero airspeed
though not at full power and isnt terribly efficient ut it is
simple and cheap. It might make suitable power plant for a
cheap cruise missile, which is what the V1 was but not an AAM

Keith