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This Defense Intelligence Reference Document, dated 1 November 2010, was prepared by the Defense Intelligence Agency's Defense Warning Office under the Advanced Aerospace Weapons System Applications program. It reviews fusion plasma physics, confinement methods and propulsion concepts that use aneutronic fusion fuels such as hydrogen and boron-11. It concludes that pulsed DPF or IEC thrusters may replace satellite ion thrusters in the near term. It also finds that aneutronic fusion propulsion will not be practical beyond the solar system without breakthrough propulsion physics.
From the source: Release of 2026-09-18 Incident: 11/1/10, Las Vegas, Nevada. Released with redactions. This document is a Defense Intelligence Reference Document (DIRD), a technical reference format used by the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) to capture baseline knowledge on a specific topic for later analytic use. DIRDs are best understood as reference and synthesis products rather than as original research. It is one of 38 DIRDs produced under the Advanced Aerospace Weapon System Applications Program (AAWSAP) between 2009 and 2011. Because AAWSAP’s scope permitted a broad range of supporting topics, not every DIRD in the series directly concerns aerospace systems or future threat assessment. The following summary reflects the DIRD’s scope and framing at the time of writing and should not be read as implying current validation of the concepts discussed. This DIRD revisits aneutronic fusion propulsion in a more systems-oriented manner, arguing that fusion concepts using low-neutron fuels such as proton-boron or helium-3 could become attractive for space propulsion because they reduce shielding burdens and may support direct conversion of charged-particle energy into thrust or onboard power. The report reviews the relevant fusion plasma physics and focuses on several candidate confinement approaches, then connects those concepts to possible applications in near-space, orbital, and interplanetary propulsion. It presents the most plausible nearer-term use as very high-power electric or plasma propulsion for satellites and deep-space missions rather than atmospheric flight or interstellar travel, while emphasizing that major obstacles remain in ignition, sustained confinement, system mass, power handling, fuel storage, launch integration, and end-to-end engineering.
UNCLASSIFIED/ /FOR OFFI&il.t.k WIiii 8Plk\f Magnetic BURN CHAMBER Expansion . . . Chamber I . Fuel Beam lnjecti_~n t'I - I ~ - ----~ 1m; - I < )( )( ~ 10 m ➔Sm Figure 11. Magnetized Target Fusion Reactor AIR PROPULSION The reactor propulsion concepts described in the previous section were limited to space propulsion . The DPF reactor is the lightest concept at 16 Mg (16 metric tons) and could produce 800 MW of power with thrust levels of 1000 kN for space propulsion through ej ection of high-energy ions. The application of this fusion reactor for propelling aircraft from ground to hypersonic speeds would be very difficult since converting the 800 MW of power to propellant thrust through a thermodynamically driven gas turbine would provide lSN/MW or 1.53 kg of force per MW, which is only 1,224 kg of thrust for lifting a 16,000 kg vehicle . The thrust per kilogram of reactor weight would have to go up a factor of 50 to 100 in order to lift the reactor and the aircraft it is powering. The assistance of conventional rocket technology plus air-breathing magnetohydrodynamic (MHD)-assisted propulsion to augment aneutronic fusion plasma propulsion has been studied as depicted in Figure 12. In this concept, rocket- and turbine-based combined-cycle air-breath ing engines are used for accelerating the vehicle to Mach 14. 15 MHD power generation is used during Mach 7-14 air-breathing flight because it may produce hundreds of megawatts of electrical power for DPF fusion rocket system ignition. The DPF fus ion rocket system could then provide additional propulsion, power, and acceleration outside the atmosphere at speeds above the Mach 14 air-breathing MHD threshold. A thrust-vectoring chem ical rocket system provides additional thrust and control any time during vehicle flight. • Aneutronic fusion power • 2025 time periodand rocket propulsion from Mach 14 to orbit • Air-breathing propulsion and MHD power from Mach 7 to Mach 14 • Chemical rocket and air-breathing propulsion Propellants: Liquid Hydrogen; from Oto Mach 7 Liquid Oxygen (or Liquified Air) Figure 12. MHD Air-Breathing and Fusion Rocket Aerospace Plane UNCLASSIFIED/ JFOR OFFICIJlcL l:ISE 8Plk¥ 13
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Official release, from the pursue collection. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is above. 36 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.