Micro-nuclear reactors are coming.

"Micro nuclear reactors are being seen as a way to get critical bases off the grid, but they could also have a major impact on civilian energy production.. Looking like a scene in a sci-fi movie, and in what is clearly a unique mission, dubbed Operation Windlord, USAF C-17s have been tasked with transporting a micro nuclear reactor. The U.S. military’s role is to transport the elements of the Ward250 reactor, made by Valar Atomics, from March Air Reserve Base in Southern California to Hill Air Force Base in Utah. Once on the ground in Utah, it will be moved to Utah San Rafael Energy Lab (USREL) in Orangeville for extensive testing. Beyond its direct utility, this operation may very well serve as a glimpse of what’s to come as the Department of Defense looks to integrate micro nuclear reactors into the power grids of critical installations. " (TWZ.com, C-17 Airlifts A Micro Nuclear Reactor For The First Time)

The C-17 airlifts a micro-nuclear reactor. Micro-nuclear reactors are tools that play a vital role in the future electric infrastructure in both military and civil environments. The micro-nuclear reactors, or micronukes, can deliver electricity for future directed energy weapons, as well as for data centers, and at least for ships and submarines. Those molten-salt reactors can also offer a tool. For. Making the new chemical thermal rocket engines. The micronuke can also offer a possibility to create. A new. High-capability space plane. We know that regular aircraft can use nuclear reactors as a power source. 

The Russian “Burevestnik” missile uses nuclear reactors. There is a possibility to use. Nuclear reactors. Also for larger-scale aircraft. And maybe Russians plan to make. A nuclear-powered version. Of the Tu-141 “Blackjack” bomber. 

The Buresvestnik missile uses a compressor to give thrust. But it’s possible to create a system called nuclear pulsejets. The nuclear pulsejet uses propellant. That has extremely high expansion ability. The aircraft can take off from the runways using a compressor. 

"The Convair NB-36 in flight, with a B-50 Superfortress" (Wikipedia, Convair NB-36H). The NB-36H was a testbed for nuclear-powered aircraft. 

The “Buresvestnik” missile and its engine. The airflow cools the nuclear reactor. 

But when that system requires more speed, it can inject things like liquid hydrogen against the reactor shell, which causes high-power expansion. This system is actually an air-breathing version of NERVA (Nuclear Engine for Rocket Vehicle Application). But the system can use the cooler. That turns the gas that the system takes in into a liquid. So, we can say. Those models are the nuclear-powered version of the HOTOL shuttle. The British Airspace study project. For. An air-breathing. Space shuttle. If HOTOL were to use a nuclear reactor, that system could really operate. The space planes could operate in anti-satellite roles. But larger systems can also operate in space cargo missions. And those planes could also drop things like kinetic warheads to the ground. 

The idea of nuclear-powered shuttles and aerospace systems is not new. The Cold War era” Project Pluto” and the NB-36. And Soviet designs. The nuclear-powered Tu-95 “Bear” class nuclear bomber. They were interesting. But at the same time, dangerous projects. One of the most realistic models was the giant amphibious planes, designed by Bartini. Those planes could use seawater to cool their reactors while they flew. The idea is that those panes flew like regular aircraft in super- or hypersonic speed. And while their operations. The plane can come down. And fill its tanks with water, which the system injects into the reactor shell. The vaporizing water can act as a propellant. 

Pluto-missile could act as a model. For the highly advanced space planes. The Pluto system is used. A nuclear-powered ramjet engine. The nuclear reactor replaced combustion. This system could give the missile an unlimited range. But the problem was radioactive fallout. That project is delayed. But it's possible. The data from that system can be used to develop new and highly sophisticated space planes. 

https://www.thedefensenews.com/news-details/Putin-Confirms-Russias-Successful-Test-of-9M730-Burevestnik--The-Skyfall-Nuclear-Powered-Cruise-Missile-with-Unlimited-Range/

https://www.twz.com/uncategorized/this-is-a-nuclear-reactor-packed-into-a-c-17-globemaster-iii

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/9M730_Burevestnik

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Aerospace_HOTOL

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convair_NB-36H

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NERVA

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_thermal_rocket

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Pluto

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tupolev_Tu-95LAL