China develops wind tunnel for hypersonic weapons testing

China’s Aerodynamics Research Institute under the state-owned Aviation Industry Corp of China (AVIC) has completed development of a new one-meter-class hypersonic aerodynamic wind tunnel.

The FL-64 tunnel recently passed air flow distribution calibration tests under major Mach numbers. This development means that the wind tunnel has successfully passed the first phase of calibration, and has formally become capable of conducting tests for development projects, AVIC announced on its official WeChat account on Sunday.

The development of the FL-64 took two years, and broke the construction speed record compared with similar facilities, Chinese media reported citing AVIC, noting that the wind tunnel is a large and complex one, and its construction was challenging due to the requirements of being hypersonic, including high temperatures, pressure and speed levels.

It is designed to simulate speeds from Mach 4 to 8 under a total temperature of 900 Kelvin (626.85 C) at a simulated flight altitude of 48,000 meters. It can operate for more than 30 seconds, testing a hypersonic aircraft’s capabilities including the separation and deployment of weapons from the aircraft.