Jaguar to power Bloodhound’s Hybrid Rocket

The Bloodhound SSC supersonic car has been revealed in its final version and is set to break the land speed record next year. A new land speed record could be set when this car takes to the South African desert, next year. Jaguar will be powering a hybrid rocket which will help the Bloodhound achieve this feat.

While the primary engine of the Bloodhound is a Rolls-Royce EJ200 jet engine that also powers the Eurofighter Typhoon it will only allow Bloodhound to reach around 1000km/h. It is at this point that the car’s hybrid rocket will be activated, propelling the car to its first target of almost 1300 km/h by Jaguar’s supercharged 5.0-litre V8 engine. This is the same unit that is found in the F-Type. Power output is 550bhp and can pump up to 40 litres of propellant per second. The officials say that unit could fill a standard bath tub with propellant in three seconds. The record-breaking 0-1600 km/h (1000 m/h) run is expected to take just 55 seconds, with the full run, including deceleration, expected to be just over two minutes.

Andy Green will be driving the Bloodhound SSC, who already holds the current land speed record, having achieved 1228 km/h in Thrust SSC in 1997. Bloodhound project director Richard Noble, who also happens to be a land speed record holder, says both car and driver have been developed together. “Andy is the only person who’s been supersonic in a car,” said Noble. “It is highly spectacular, of course. It’s all about human endeavour and human progress.”