An afterburner (or a reheat) is a component present on some jet engines, mostly those used on military supersonic aircraft. Its purpose is to provide an increase in thrust, usually for supersonic flight, takeoff, and combat situations.
Overview[]
Cut-view of a basic afterburner
The idea of an afterburner is to inject more fuel into the combustion chamber after the gas flow leaves the turbine. As a result, the temperature increases dramatically, thereby causing the amount of thrust leaving the nozzle to rise. The aircraft will then experience a substantial increase in speed, often breaking the sound barrier.
Limitations[]
The biggest limitation to the afterburner is the increase in fuel consumption every time it is used. For turbojet engines, this is not much of a difference since they operate more efficiently at supersonic speeds, but for turbofan engines, the added fuel consumption is considerable. In both cases, the afterburner is used mainly for short takeoffs, supersonic speed interception and combat. Since there is no frequent need for constant supersonic flight, the afterburner is used sparingly.
Another downside to the afterburner is that its usage also makes the aircraft more visible to infrared sensors. Of course, in the New World, Japanese fighter pilots don't need to worry about that factor since most nations don't have such sensor equipment.
To overcome the fuel-consumption problem, Japanese engineers are working on the Mitsubishi X-2 Shinshin project, which will be a stealth aircraft with the ability to supercruise, or fly supersonic without the use of the afterburner.
The Afterburner in the New World[]
Currently, Japan is the only nation in the New World that uses the afterburner and has supersonic aircraft. The Holy Milishial Empire's jets have no turbines, let alone the afterburner and therefore are incapable of supersonic flight. The Ravernal Empire was hypothesized to have supersonic jets similar to Earth's in the 1970s, but it is unknown if they used afterburners. Mu also has access to an after-burning engine with the X Shinden Kai, but they are unable to reproduce or repair the imported engine, nor have they achieved supersonic flight.