During the implosion of an inertial confinement fusion target, the hot shell material surrounding the cold D–T fuel layer is shock-accelerated. This instability is also seen in magnetized target fusion (MTF). Mixing of the shell material and fuel is not desired and efforts are made to minimize any tiny imperfections or irregularities which will be magnified by RMI.
Supersonic combustion in a scramjet may benefit from RMI as the fuel-oxidants interface is enhanced by the breakup of the fuel into finer droplets.  Also in studies of deflagration to detonation transition (DDT) processes show that RMI-induced flame acceleration can result in detonation.