Ramjet flows are very sensitive to combustion instabilities that are difficult to predict using numerical simulations. This paper describes compressible large eddy simulation on unstructured grids used to investigate nonreacting and reacting flows in a simplified twin-inlet ramjet combustor. The reacting flow is compared to experimental results published by ONERA in terms of mean fields. Simulations show a specific flow topology controlled by the impingement of the two air jets issuing from the twin air inlets and by multiple complex recirculation zones. In a second part, all unsteady modes appearing in the reacting LES are analyzed using spectral maps and POD (proper orthogonal decomposition) tools. A Helmholtz solver also computes the frequencies and structures of all acoustic modes in the ramjet. Pure longitudinal, transverse and combined modes are identified by all three diagnostics. In addition, a mode-by-mode analysis of the Rayleigh criterion is presented thanks to POD. This method shows that the most intense structure (at 3750 Hz) is the first transverse acoustic mode of the combustor chamber and the Rayleigh criterion obtained with POD illustrates how this transverse mode couples with unsteady combustion. (c) 2007 The Combustion Institute. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.