Fusion Reactor Could Soon Power Airplanes

On Saturday, October 18, 2014 11:34:12 AM UTC-5, Larry Dighera wrote:
http://www.avweb.com/avwebflash/news/Lockheed-Says-Its-Fusion-Reactor-Could-Power-Airplanes222910-1.html



Lockheed Says Its Fusion Reactor Could Power Airplanes



Lockheed Martin is working on a compact fusion reactor that could be small

enough to provide a power source for aircraft, and it could be ready to fly in

10 years or less, the company said on Wednesday. "Our compact fusion concept

combines several alternative magnetic confinement approaches, taking the best

parts of each, and offers a 90-percent size reduction over previous concepts,"

said Tom McGuire, compact fusion lead for the Skunk Works' Revolutionary

Technology Programs. "The smaller size will allow us to design, build and test

the CFR in less than a year." After completing several of these

design-build-test cycles, the team anticipates being able to produce a

prototype in five years. That first prototype should be small enough to fit on

the back of a truck, and could provide enough power for a city of 100,000

people, the company said. A C-5 cargo aircraft powered by the reactor could fly

for about a year powered by "just a few bottles of gasoline," the company said.

The company says that technology will be available "within the next decade."


In the mean time lets fix the F-22 and F-35 issues first, LMco.