The rendering in interestingengineering article is a stock image. An older SCMP article gives a much weirder rendering which matches the whitepaper the lead researcher published on I-shaped hypersonic configurations.
So I have no idea what the blurry ass rocket pic is supposed to be, maybe it was a test vehicle for just the engine, maybe SCMP misattributed it, maybe the team dumped the whole "I-shaped configuration" thing.
Presumably any ram or scram-jet engine will require a rocket engine or other assist, assuming it's not a hybrid like the SR-71.
Holy shit why are people hemming and hawing about Hunter Biden when he let this fucking monster off?