Abstract: The results of numerical and experimental studies of a new configuration of 3D hypersonic inlet with the minimum throat area,which was called a convergent inlet,are presented in this paper.It is shown that the use of this inlet configuration allows one to reduce the drag and thermal protection of surfaces of a hypersonic engine within the entire range of flight velocities.This is achieved by decreasing the inclination of extemal compression surfaces and reducing the area of the inlet duct and combustor walls.The inlet configuration was constructed on the basis of gas dynamic design methods using the flows of lower dimension.The calculations were performed within the framework of inviscid gas model by the method of finite volumes.The flow and inlet characteristics,taking account of viscosity,were also calculated using the boundary layer equations.The numerical algorithm was verified by calculated and experimental data for a finite-width wedge and extemal compression surface of a convergent inlet.The experimental studies were performed within the Mach number range from 2 to 10.7 and Reynolds number based on the model inlet height of Re=(1~5)106. The numerical and experimental results are in good agreement.These results are also compared with the data for traditional 2D inlets.