Taiping Heavenly Army Airforce: Magnetoaerodynamic Aerodynes

THAAF prototype vehicle "Azure Phoenix"

In the late 2030s, the Taiping Heavenly Army Air Force along with the Naval Aviation Force began a process of phasing out old fixed wing aircraft and replacing them with new magnetoaerodynamic aerodynes. These vehicles are substantially more advanced and capable than their predecessors, possessing superior manoeuvrability, acceleration, maximum velocity and stealth capabilities. Magnetoaerodynamic propulsion technology has also been adopted by the USSR and American Union State, with allied nations possessing perhaps a few such aerodynes purchased from their respective benefactor.

Technology

Magnetoaerodynamic aerodynes operate on similar principles to magnetohydrodynamic vehicles, a technology that was in use for decades before the practical application of such concepts to aircraft. Magnetohydrodynamic vehicles propel themselves by taking advantage of the conductivity of seawater, applying a Lorentz force to the liquid in a similar manner to a railgun, accelerating it and propelling the vehicle. Air is not naturally conductive, so magnetoaerodynamic propulsion requires the ionisation of gas particles around the drive system to produce a conductive plasma. Early magnetoaerodynamic aircraft concepts involved its incorporation into scramjet-style mechanisms, in which incoming air was ionised and then accelerated within the engine, but most such concepts never advanced beyond the prototype stage.

What allowed for the development of the signature concave-saucer shaped aerodynes currently in service was the invention of compact fusion reactors. Such devices provide sufficient energy to allow for the air surrounding the vehicle to be ionised by laser systems, and accelerated around it by Lorentz forces, the entire airframe serving as the engine. The distinctive frame, reminiscent of the flying saucer of science fiction, is due to it being the optimum shape to confine the plasma to the walls, along with being convenient for the incorporation of toroidal tokamak style fusion reactors. Having no wings or air-breathing jet engines, these aerodynes share no similarities with conventional aircraft, but behave like a helicopter whose rotor blades would have been replaced by a purely electromagnetic rotor with no moving parts, moving the air around it. This propulsion system is largely silent, besides a faint hum and the smell of ozone that accompanies the ionisation.

The advantages of such a propulsion system are manifold. It is capable of vertical take off and landing, along with rapidly changing direction far more swiftly than conventional fixed-wing aircraft, although it cannot alter its course instantly, still being limited by inertia. The active flow control systems on the plasma modify the velocity, direction, pressure, friction, and heat flux parameters of the airflow, preserving the aircraft from associated stress, allowing for hypersonic flight. Hypersonic-capable aircraft had already been developed by the time magnetoaerodynamic propulsion became practical, however these were too specialised to see general usage. The production of a plasma around the aircraft also allows it to utilise plasma stealth, wherein radio waves emitted by RADAR are absorbed by the plasma, concealing the aircraft. This allows magnetoaerodynamic aircraft to serve as superb rapid strike platforms, taking advantage of their hypersonic speeds and near-undetectability to penetrate enemy defences and obliterate targets.