THE HON. WARREN SNOWDON MP
Minister for Defence Science and Personnel
Friday, 2 May 2008
046/2008
DSTO AND UNIVERSITY OF QUEENSLAND CREATE
A HYPERSONIC CHAIR
Missiles 10 times faster than today’s and troops deployed to the other side of the
world in just a few hours are all part of the hypersonic future being developed by the
Defence Science and Technology Organisation (DSTO) and the University of
Queensland (UQ).
The Minister for Defence Science and Personnel, Warren Snowdon, announced
today that DSTO will fund a Chair in Hypersonics at UQ in a significant boost to high-
speed flight research.
“Hypersonics is the study of flight exceeding approximately five times the speed of
sound, and a closer DSTO/UQ collaboration will strengthen Australia’s position as a
world leader in the field,” Mr Snowdon Said.
“Future applications for hypersonic travel include the inexpensive launch of satellites,
and scramjets (supersonic ramjets) for long-range time critical missions.”
DSTO’s Deputy Chief Defence Scientist (Information and Weapons System), Dr
Warren Harch, said the Chair enhances an already excellent alliance and will foster
long-term developments.
“The research will focus on scramjet technology, and the Hypersonics International
Flight Research Experimentation (HIFiRE) Agreement,” said Dr Harch.
“In November 2006 DSTO signed a $74 million HIFiRE Agreement with the United
States Air Force that will comprise up to 10 hypersonic flight experiments planned for
the Woomera Testing Facility over the next five years.
“The DSTO funding will also go towards the University’s ‘T4 shock tunnel’ for
experimental modelling of flights.”
Dr Russell Boyce of the University of New South Wales, at the Australian Defence
Force Academy, has been appointed DSTO Chair and Professor in Hypersonics.
He will work alongside Associate Professor Michael Smart, formerly of NASA, who
has been appointed to the position of Chair and Professor in Hypersonic Propulsion.
Executive Dean of the University of Queensland’s Faculty of Engineering, Physical
Sciences and Architecture, Professor Stephen Walker, welcomed the appointments.
Media contacts:
Steve Butler (DSTO):
08 8259 6923 or 0418 800 323
Jan King (University of Queensland):
07 3365 1120 or 0413 601 248
Kate Sieper (Warren Snowdon):
02 6277 7620 or 0488 484 689
Defence Media Liaison:
02 6265 3343 or 0408 498 664
NEWS 
