ON THE HISTORY OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF PULSATING AIR-BREATHING JET ENGINES: A HISTORIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

Authors

  • Asamiddin A. Turaev Tashkent State Transport University, Tashkent, Uzbekistan
  • Sergey B. Stadnikov Irkutsk Branch of Moscow State Technical University of Civil Aviation, Irkutsk, Russia

Keywords:

Aircraft engines; aviation propulsion; pulsejet engine; pulsating air-breathing jet engine; history of aviation technology; unmanned aerial vehicles; propulsion systems; technological development.

Abstract

Background. The pulsating air-breathing jet engine (pulsejet engine) is one of the historically earliest classes of air-breathing reaction propulsion, possessing a documented development trajectory that spans more than a century. A systematic historical understanding of this trajectory is a precondition for the well-founded evaluation of present-day proposals to apply pulsejet technology in unmanned and small-scale aviation.
Aim. The article aims to analyse the historical process of pulsejet engine development, to identify key dates, organisations, individuals, and engineering decisions that shaped the technology, and to characterise the principal directions of recent research. Materials and Methods. The study is a qualitative historiographical review based on Russian and international published sources, including journal articles, encyclopaedic entries, NASA technical memoranda, and four recent dissertations on pulsejet engine modelling and design. Sources were analysed using a chronological–thematic approach and cross-checked against existing literature.
Results. The review reconstructs the principal stages of pulsejet engine development: mid-nineteenth-century patents, German pre-war and wartime work (Schmidt, Argus As 109-014, V-1), post-war Soviet and American trials (La-9RD, P-51D with Ford PJ-31-1), the establishment of pulsejet aeromodelling records in 1949–1958, and four recent dissertation studies (Seifetdinov, Minin, Bogdanov, Borisoglebsky) addressing working-process modelling, design optimisation for unmanned aerial vehicles, and efficiency improvement.
Discussion and Conclusion. The historical record indicates that pulsejet engines have retained niche relevance because of their structural simplicity, low manufacturing cost, and tolerance for low-grade fuels. These properties remain pertinent to contemporary research on energy-efficient propulsion for small unmanned aerial vehicles, providing a justified historical and engineering basis for further investigation.

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Published

2026-05-23

Issue

Vol. 52 (2026)

Section

Articles

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How to Cite

ON THE HISTORY OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF PULSATING AIR-BREATHING JET ENGINES: A HISTORIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW. (2026). British Journal of Global Ecology and Sustainable Development, 52, 16-26. https://journalzone.org/index.php/bjgesd/article/view/839