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by powderpig 844 days ago
Conventional jet engines run at RPMs in excess of 20000rpm. To get this same speeds for the same mass flown rates of say a J79 (F4-Phantom) you'd be looking at some massive electric motors. Conventional jet engines would be using electric motors if they were light enough already.

There is a reason Rolls-Royce UltraFan uses a speed reducing gearbox for it's fan blades and not an electric motor.

More to the point above, at hypersonic speeds, using a conventional compressor is sort or useless unless you can keep your air cool.