Latest news with #HypersonicAttackCruiseMissile
Yahoo
09-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Air Force may revive shelved ARRW hypersonic program
The Air Force wants to revive its shelved AGM-183A Air-launched Rapid Response Weapon, or ARRW, hypersonic program — and perhaps move it into the procurement phase. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Allvin told lawmakers in a hearing last week that the service wants to include funding for both ARRW and the Hypersonic Attack Cruise Missile, or HACM, in the fiscal 2026 budget proposal. 'We are looking, and have in the budget submission — assuming it's what we had put forward — two different [hypersonic] programs,' Allvin told the House Armed Services Committee on Thursday. 'One is a larger form factor that is more strategic long-range that we have already tested several times. It's called ARRW, and the other one is HACM.' Hypersonic weapons are capable of traveling at more than five times the speed of sound and maneuvering midflight, making them harder to track and shoot down than conventional ballistic missiles and more capable of penetrating enemy defenses. China and Russia have invested heavily in hypersonic research and touted their advancements, with Russia even using hypersonic weapons in Ukraine. Those nations' successes have worried top lawmakers and Pentagon leaders and increased pressure on U.S. military services to produce their own hypersonic capabilities. The Air Force once saw ARRW, a boost-glide weapon made by Lockheed Martin, as a promising option for developing hypersonic weapons that could catch up with China's and Russia's programs. But after unsuccessful tests in late 2022 and early 2023, ARRW's future was in doubt. Andrew Hunter, then-acquisition chief, told lawmakers in March 2023 that the Air Force did not plan to buy ARRW missiles after its prototyping phase ended, spelling major trouble for the program. The Air Force's budget request for fiscal 2025, which was released in March 2024, included no funding for procurement or research and development for ARRW. The service concluded the prototype phase for ARRW in 2024. But in his comments to lawmakers last week, Allvin said the service wanted to move both ARRW and HACM beyond research and development and 'into the procurement range in the very near future.' 'We are accelerating in our development not only of the technology, but of the procurement of the capabilities that it will create,' Allvin said. Now that the Air Force has matured its hypersonic technology, it must focus on lowering costs and getting the systems into production, Air Force Secretary Troy Meink told lawmakers in the same hearing. 'It's got to be affordable,' Meink said. 'We've got to be able to buy more than 10 of these things. A big focus right now is ramping up the production and lowering the cost so we can get enough of that kit to actually make a difference.'
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Hermeus notches first flight of Quarterhorse high-speed aircraft
Hermeus, a venture capital-backed firm building high-speed aircraft, flew its Quarterhorse vehicle for the first time last week at Edwards Air Force Base in California, the company said. The aircraft, dubbed Mk 1, is the second iteration of the Quarterhorse high-speed test platform and the first to take flight. Its May 21 flight test brings Hermeus a step closer to its goal of flying the autonomous, reusable vehicle at near-Mach 5 speeds by 2026. 'We've proven the viability of our iterative development approach,' Hermeus CEO AJ Piplica said in a statement Tuesday. 'But this is just the start. We have much more to do as the bar rises for the next iteration.' Hermeus had planned to fly Quarterhorse in 2023 and then pushed that date to last summer before eventually hitting the milestone this month. Still, the company touted its ability to go from a clean-sheet design to a flight-ready system in just over a year. The first flight test focused on validating Quarterhorse's ability to take off and land, which is a particular challenge for high-speed systems. Hermeus is feeding data from the first flight into its second test vehicle, Mk 2, which is currently being built at the firm's headquarters in Atlanta. That aircraft is slated to fly by the end of the year and reach supersonic speeds. It will also enable 'novel operational defense capabilities,' the company said. This early work will push Hermeus toward its larger goal of supplying high-speed platforms to both defense and commercial customers. The company plans to build one aircraft per year — an approach it hopes will position it to address the challenges that come with operationalizing a hypersonic aircraft. 'The company's approach emphasizes 'hardware richness' — building multiple prototypes in quick succession, allowing the team to take well-managed technical risk,' Hermeus said. 'While driving technical progress towards high-speed flight, this approach simultaneously enables Hermeus to rapidly develop its team and talent.' Hypersonic aircraft fly and maneuver at speeds of Mach 5 or higher. The Defense Department has several major programs to develop and field hypersonic weapons and vehicles — including the Air Force's Hypersonic Attack Cruise Missile and the Army's Long-Range Hypersonic Weapon — and is interested in potentially using Quarterhorse to help test hypersonic technology. Along with funding from private investors, Hermeus received early backing from the Air Force Research Laboratory, which awarded the company a $1.5 million contract in 2020, followed by another $60 million deal the following year. The Defense Innovation Unit also chose the firm for its Hypersonic and High-Cadence Airborne Testing Capabilities program, which aims to increase flight test support for Pentagon programs. Piplica previously told Defense News he expects Quarterhorse to start supporting DOD test events in 2026, around when its Mk 3 vehicle rolls off the line.
