Track 13 — Russian MoD Patent: Hypersonic Aerospace Drone with Plasma Propulsion Surface Arrays

Status: Patent Number Unknown — Manual Retrieval Required

Patent Number: Unknown (Russian Ministry of Defence filing, estimated ~2014–2019)

Reason for skip: The patent number for this Russian MoD filing is not documented in the overview.mdx. The Google Patents URL was partially visible in source tweet images as patents.google.com/patent/RU... but the full patent number was not captured. Multiple views of the patent diagrams are visible in the tweet images, but the accession number was not recorded.

Google Patents URL: Cannot be constructed without the patent number.

To retrieve this patent manually:

1. Search Google Patents for: RU MoD drone plasma aerodynamics hypersonic 2014–2019 assignee:"Ministry of Defence"
2. Search Russian patent database (RUPTO): https://www1.fips.ru/registers-doc-view/fips_servlet
3. Search query: assignee = "Министерство обороны" + classification B64C + plasma + MHD + 2014–2019

Document Description (from overview.mdx)

Title: Hypersonic Aerospace Drone with Plasma Propulsion Surface Arrays

Assignee: Russian Ministry of Defence (Министерство Обороны Российской Федерации)

Filing period: ~2014–2019

Jurisdiction: Russia (foreign)

Engineering Description (from Patent Figures visible in images)

The two engineering drawings show:

Three-quarter view: A delta or double-delta planform with broad swept leading edge, highly flattened lower body (ventral surface nearly flat), and sharply pointed nose. No visible vertical tail. No conventional engine nacelles. Along the entire lower ventral surface and the leading-edge strips, arrays of numbered components (1 through 9.3, with multiple sub-numbers) indicate numerous independently-operated surface elements — consistent with distributed plasma-actuator arrays or surface electrode networks.

Cross-section view (Figura 2): Shows:

• Component 1: Main fuselage shell
• Components 2, 3, 5, 6: Internal power and control electronics
• Components 4.1, 4.2, 4.3: Electrode or emitter groups
• Components 7.1, 7.2: Aft nozzle or trailing-edge emitter groups
• Components 9.1, 9.2, 9.3: Sensor or plasma source sub-assemblies
• Component 8: Distributed across both surfaces
• Labels "Р_вх.1", "Р_вх.2" and "Р_кр.": Designate inlet pressure zones and wing leading edge — confirming hypersonic vehicle with plasma management of the boundary layer

Physics Mechanism: Distributed Surface Plasma Aerodynamics and MHD Propulsion

At Mach 5+, conventional aircraft suffer massive aerodynamic heating and shock-induced drag because the boundary layer transitions to turbulent or separates entirely. Plasma actuators — surface electrodes ionizing the immediate boundary layer by dielectric-barrier discharge (DBD) or surface arc — inject momentum into the boundary layer, delaying transition, attaching separated flow, and drastically reducing drag and heating.

At high plasma energy density, the surrounding shock structure itself is modified: a plasma "bubble" with elevated electron temperature modifies the effective γ (ratio of specific heats) of the gas, changing the shock standoff distance and reducing wave drag.

The engineering claimed: a hypersonic vehicle using no conventional propulsion — no air-breathing jet, no rocket nozzle — but instead using surface plasma fields to interact directly with the hypersonic airflow, producing thrust by accelerating air rearward via J × B body force (magnetohydrodynamic acceleration) while managing heat loads via plasma boundary-layer control.

The Lorentz force density at the surface:

f = J × B

For conducting boundary-layer current density J and applied field B, the body force accelerates the fluid in the direction J × B. By choice of electrode geometry and field orientation, this force can be directed rearward (producing thrust) or normal to the surface (thickening the boundary layer for heat protection).

This is the same principle described in Lockheed Martin US8006939B2 (over-wing traveling-wave axial-flow plasma accelerator, Track_16), independently filed in 2006, but applied here to a full hypersonic vehicle design rather than a wing section.

Research Background

Key Russian institutions on plasma aerodynamics for hypersonic flight:

• Lebedev Physical Institute (ФИАН) — plasma boundary layer modification theory
• TsAGI (Центральный аэрогидродинамический институт) — aerodynamics testing and plasma drag reduction
• Moscow Physical-Technical Institute (МФТИ) — plasma actuator modeling

Related Patents

• US8006939B2 (Lockheed Martin, 2006/2011) — parallel US development of surface plasma accelerator (Track_16)
• RU2565157C1 (MKB Raduga, 2014/2015) — Russian plasma stealth drone (Track_15)

Patent number unknown — manual retrieval required. Content described above is based on engineering drawings visible in tweet images documented in overview.mdx.