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This paper presents an analysis of approaches to ensuring the performance of a ramjet combustor using an unconventional method of measuring the thrust in testing an experimental model of a liquid-fuel combustor under flight conditions simulated by a fired heater. The thrust and drag of the combustor model were measured in firing tests with an attached air duct using a thrust meter. Thrust is a parameter that characterizes the energy potential of any engine. The conventional method of determining the thrust and economic characteristics of a heat engine involves lengthy multi-parameter studies and calculations of the operation performance. The new method allows one to detect the effect of any parameter or element of the structure on the physical process in a combustor in units of the developed thrust and evaluate the change in any parameter by the thrust level directly in firing tests. The proposed thrust measurement system makes it possible to refine the strategy of implementing the combustor operation at an early stage of testing, thus reducing the amount of intermediate calculations and saving a huge amount of time and money. This, combined with static pressure measurements along the combustor length, allows a guaranteed prediction of the direction of search for improving the operation performance. Ways are shown to improve the ramjet combustor performance using a thrust meter to evaluate the overall engine performance under conditions of limited technical and methodical possibilities in firing tests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]