An afterburner is an additional combustion component used on some jet engines, mostly those on military supersonic aircraft. Its purpose is to increase thrust, usually for supersonic flight, takeoff, and combat. Afterburning injects additional fuel into a combustor in the jet pipe behind the turbine, "reheating" the exhaust gas. Afterburning significantly increases thrust as an alternative to using a bigger engine with its attendant weight penalty, but at the cost of very high fuel consumption which limits its use to short periods. This aircraft application of reheat contrasts with the meaning and implementation of reheat applicable to gas turbines driving electrical generators and which reduces fuel consumption.
