The present invention provides a statically starting and operating ramjet engine system. The system includes a pumping ejector coupled to a ramjet engine upstream of the ramjet inlet. A subsonic converging nozzle is placed in fluid communication between the pumping ejector and ramjet inlet. The pumping ejector ejects a primary fluid into the ramjet inlet to entrain a secondary fluid and create a mixed flow with sufficient momentum and internal energy to achieve characteristic speed. The converging nozzle provides a characteristic cross section necessary for the mixed flow to achieve characteristic speed as it moves through the nozzle, thereby producing a standing shock wave at the point of maximum convergence of the nozzle and creating sonic conditions at the inlet of the ramjet engine.