Catapillar Engine

[Deathblow]

Originally Posted by compressioncut

Well, the Brits have been using pumpjets since the early/mid 70s (Swiftsure), while the Russians and Americans have been essentially happy to use normal, albeit highly engineered, propellers until very recently. I suspect that the fact they are massive has been the main drawback - if you look at that Kilo with it's propulsor disassembled, the stator section alone probably weighs as much as four or five normal props.

My guess is that the stators are probably made of steel whereas traditional props are probably titanium. There has to be some tangible advantage to them since everyone is making the switch now. My reading says that a pumpjet can achieve an equal amount of thrust with a smaller diameter than a traditional screw, something about better use of the blade ends for thrust production iirc.