The so-called waverider refers to a supersonic or hypersonic aircraft with a streamlined shape and shock waves attached to all leading edges. Generally speaking, when a waverider flies, its leading edge plane coincides with the upper surface of the shock wave, just like riding on the wave surface of the shock wave and generating lift by the pressure of the shock wave, so it is called a waverider. If the edge of the atmosphere is regarded as the water surface, flying by waves is like jumping on the water surface. Waverider does not use wings to generate lift, but flies by compression lift and shock lift, and the compression lift generated is like a water ski towed by a speedboat. The shock wave formed by supersonic flight is not only the source of resistance, but also the carrier for aircraft to "tread" and "surf" behind the shock front.

The concept of waverider was put forward by Novell in 1959. Novell first put forward the idea of constructing a three-dimensional hypersonic vehicle according to the known flow field, and constructed a "λ"-shaped hypersonic vehicle by using a plane oblique shock wave to form the flow field. Rasmussen and others of the University of Maryland in the United States published a paper on the generation of waverider by moderate cone flow. It is worth mentioning that compared with Nunveiler's two-dimensional "λ" design, the volume ratio of the waverider generated by the conical flow field is much larger, and it has a higher lift-drag ratio. From 65438 to 0989, the international conference on wave riders sponsored by NASA was held at the University of Maryland. At the meeting, Sobieczky and others put forward the method of generating waverider by cutting cone. It is characterized by using multiple cones to design shock modes, so that people can design complex configurations according to the needs of aircraft, thus making it possible for waverider aircraft to develop into practicality.