The New and Improved Tomahawk
Missile Now Runs on Corn
Popular Mechanics,
by
Kyle Mizokami
Original Article
Posted By: StormCnter,
5/26/2020 1:57:39 PM
One of the nation’s most prestigious national labs has developed a new fuel substitute for the same jet fuel that powers cruise missiles. Los Alamos National Labs has come up with a replacement fuel for JP-10 that uses corn bran and other feedstocks instead of petroleum products. The result is a fuel that can be sourced directly from America’s most plentiful crop, bypassing foreign sources.
The Tomahawk missile is one of the most plentiful missiles in the US military arsenal. Developed in the 1970s, Tomahawk was one of the first low-altitude, radar-evading cruise missiles to enter service, and today 145 U.S. Navy warships carry the missile daily
Reply 1 - Posted by:
curious1 5/26/2020 2:03:35 PM (No. 422538)
Waste of taxpayer dollars to virtue signal. The rot runs deep in the military bureaucracy.
16 people like this.
Reply 2 - Posted by:
Ribicon 5/26/2020 2:11:10 PM (No. 422544)
Our most plentiful crop, did they mean petroleum? Does the ethanol destroy missile propulsion systems the way it destroys fuel systems in cars and especially small engines?
13 people like this.
Reply 3 - Posted by:
GoodDeal 5/26/2020 2:30:00 PM (No. 422564)
Looks like the Tortillahawk will be the newest thing on the menu for attacking the enemy. Guacamole with that mi amigos? Margaritas? Cervesas?
12 people like this.
Reply 4 - Posted by:
RuckusTom 5/26/2020 2:30:21 PM (No. 422565)
It doesn't cost a thing to feed and maintain cattle, pigs, chickens and turkeys. Nope, not a cent. Let's just discard all those stories of mass culling of cattle, pigs, chickens and turkeys by farmers and ranchers because slaughter houses are closed due to Covid.
4 people like this.
Reply 5 - Posted by:
Proud Texan 5/26/2020 2:42:29 PM (No. 422574)
#4 has a point. Don't forget that the slaughter houses are still importing livestock from other countruies to slaughter. The big slaughter companies are ysing covid as an excuse to pay farmers and ranchers next to nothing while importinf anmimals and raising prices to consumers because "additional worker protections" for covid. Some of these companies ar vetically integrated too meaqning that they also own big ranches that raise cettle so that driving other ranchers out of business destroys their competition. They are out to drastically increase their profit margin while everyone else, suffers the results. This is what too manu regulations stifling competition and producing virtual monopolies does.
6 people like this.
Reply 6 - Posted by:
PlayItAgain 5/26/2020 2:57:21 PM (No. 422601)
From the last paragraph:
LANL believes that JP-10’s high energy density might lead more high-performance jet engines to use the fuel.
This is the only item in the article that I find remotely interesting. It's certainly true that the Apollo space program produced many inventions that changed everyday life for all of us. Since this fuel works, apparently (although I'm confident that proper longevity tests are not completed. Oil goes rancid after awhile, you know) it might prove to be useful for commercial applications as well. Although I strongly suspect it will not be economical.
I doubt there will be any information on how many Tomahawks are equipped with this stuff.
1 person likes this.
Reply 7 - Posted by:
worried 5/26/2020 3:10:22 PM (No. 422631)
They could develop a cannon that uses the left over corn cobs to shoot at the enemy. Or stockpile them in case of another toilet paper shortage.
12 people like this.
Reply 8 - Posted by:
hoosierblue 5/26/2020 3:18:53 PM (No. 422644)
Great, Hamburger just jumped from $4.25 a lb. to $4.75.
5 people like this.
Reply 9 - Posted by:
DVC 5/26/2020 3:25:03 PM (No. 422655)
They are claiming that this JP-10 production method, using "byproducts of ethanol production" will be cheaper than starting with petrochemicals. Some of the other claims are specious....."entirely within the USA", like we have no oil here, really stupid statement. The " no harsh acids, better for the environment" sounds questionable, too, since in almost all chemical processes these catalysts are recycled endlessly.
JP-10 is used in these cruise missiles because it is 1) ultra stable over very long term of storage because it is a monomolecular synthetic and 2) it is higher energy density getting more range out of a particular fuel tank volume, important to keep missile size down.
If this even IS cheaper, (I really wonder) it is only because it is effectively being subsidized by use of the totally uneconomic and stupid use of corn and such to make ethanol to harm our cars. If we manage to get rid of this stupid idea and farm welfare system of ethanol in gas , it would apparently kill this, too.
6 people like this.
Reply 10 - Posted by:
JunkYardDog 5/26/2020 3:48:39 PM (No. 422691)
Hmmm. This makes the word 'popcorn' have a whole new meaning.
4 people like this.
Reply 11 - Posted by:
thelmalou 5/26/2020 4:02:30 PM (No. 422705)
Bypassing foreign sources for what? Aren't we the #1 exporter of oil now? Geez is right.
5 people like this.
Reply 12 - Posted by:
Sunhan65 5/26/2020 4:18:05 PM (No. 422716)
Can we just take a moment to give kudos to #3? "Tortillahawk" really made me laugh.
5 people like this.
Reply 13 - Posted by:
MickTurn 5/26/2020 5:12:12 PM (No. 422755)
Tell Pervy Joe, in the next breath he'll be talking about how he beat up CORN AND Corn Pop!
2 people like this.
Reply 14 - Posted by:
red1066 5/26/2020 5:43:04 PM (No. 422789)
Bypassing foreign sources? Foreign sources of what? The U.S. is leading the world in oil production. So why do we need to use corn for fuel? Seems this program must have been started more than ten years ago, and was never shut down to save taxpayer money.
2 people like this.
Reply 15 - Posted by:
GO3 5/26/2020 6:56:49 PM (No. 422871)
Meanwhile, we haven’t won a war in about 75 years so we focus on some Pentagon bs project. Yay!
6 people like this.
Reply 16 - Posted by:
JL80863 5/26/2020 7:13:21 PM (No. 422887)
Is the corn organic??
2 people like this.
Reply 17 - Posted by:
envirodude 5/26/2020 7:21:22 PM (No. 422892)
Ethanol fuels corrode rubber seals and other parts in tanks, fuel systems and engines. Can’t wait to see a tomahawk crash and burn miles from target because of idiot environmentalists
2 people like this.
Reply 18 - Posted by:
Blue-Z-Anna 5/26/2020 7:26:06 PM (No. 422894)
Hamburger is $7.00 per pound.
But don't worry......no inflation.
3 people like this.
Reply 19 - Posted by:
Foghorn 5/26/2020 8:37:39 PM (No. 422931)
Awesome missile. Seen these first hand and saw exactly what they can do.
1 person likes this.
Reply 20 - Posted by:
Foghorn 5/26/2020 8:41:02 PM (No. 422933)
This is the best missile and is not taxpayer dollar is not wasted. This missile can take out a ship and cannot be detected by radar until it's too late. China has troops all over the world and is taking over the Pacific ocean. We've been there twice before in wars. So you ignorant soles that don't understand saving lives of Sailors should do a little research before you have diarrhea of the mouth.
0 people like this.
Reply 21 - Posted by:
Jethro bo 5/26/2020 8:48:49 PM (No. 422942)
If it runs like my car, we're screwed.
1 person likes this.
Reply 22 - Posted by:
chumley 5/26/2020 8:58:23 PM (No. 422953)
What irony. This thing will kill hundreds if not thousands with a single strike. It will level buildings, detonate enemy explosives and torch their equipment. But take heart. Its exhaust is environmentally friendly.
5 people like this.
Reply 23 - Posted by:
DVC 5/26/2020 9:38:02 PM (No. 422979)
The new fuel is no different than the old fuel, contains no ethanol. Pure synthetic hydrocarbon, a bunch of identical man-made molecules. The only difference is making if from "ethanol making byproducts" instead of from petroleum products.
They CLAIM it will be cheaper and "more environmentally friendly"......which is claimed by every single new product developed in any field in the last 20 years or so. In a few cases it isn't pure marketing hype. In this case....I'm skeptical.
1 person likes this.
Reply 24 - Posted by:
hurricanegirl 5/26/2020 10:34:10 PM (No. 423010)
So why can't they get these things to run on something that nobody wants anyway--like grass burs, cuckle burs, or ragweed? Now THAT would be news worthy of printing!
2 people like this.
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