January 29, 2026: India recently announced that it had developed a 155mm Ramjet 155mm artillery shell. A ramjet is an air-breathing engine that requires no compressor or turbine because the high speed of the shell once it leaves the barrel provides all the start-up speed the ramjet requires. With the ramjet, 155mm shells travel up to 50 percent farther. Most 155mm shells have a range of 30-40 kilometers. With the ramjet 155mm shells can have a range of up to 60 kilometers. Longer range means less accuracy, unless the shell is fitted with GPS guidance, this can be acquired by using a fuze equipped with the GPS guidance and control technology. India has also developed a method for retrofitting conventional shells with the ramjet technology. South Africa began developing a ramjet shell 25 years ago. The South African firm Rheinmetall Denel Munition continues to manufacture and export these shells to NATO and other countries.

Ramjet shell technology was first developed in the 1950s. It took decades before the ramjet components became more capable and cheaper to make them practical. A collaboration between an American and a Norwegian firm has developed a guided 155mm ramjet shell with a range of 70 kilometers. This shell can be used to hit moving targets. The most recent version of this shell has a range of 150 kilometers.

Twenty five years ago the US planned to build a ramjet powered version of AMRAAM. Since ramjets do not need to carry oxidizer for their rocket motors but get oxygen from the atmosphere, they can carry more fuel and have more range. The United States abandoned this concept because a ramjet-powered missile would be larger and would cut the war load of an F-22, which must carry its missiles internally to remain stealthy, from six missiles to four.