China reminded the world that it is actively participating in the race to deploy hypersonic missiles: Team School
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Of greatest interest here isengine. It is a combination of a ramjet engine, a hypersonic ramjet engine (scramjet) and a rocket engine. As the rocket accelerates, the engine switches from one mode to another.
Such an engine has a number of advantages, the main one beingwhich is that it doesn't need to carry as much pressurized oxygen as a clean rocket. It can collect oxygen from the air like a normal jet engine. This ultimately allows you to carry more fuel or a larger payload. In addition, Feitian-1 can run on kerosene-based aviation fuel.
It is claimed that the engine is capable of accelerating the rocket to a speed of over Mach 5.