WASHINGTON — Hypersonic technology company Hermeus is partnering with the Defense Innovation Unit to reveal high-speed capabilities through its industrial prototype aircraft, Quarterhorse.
The Atlanta-based company announced the multiyear contract Nov. 13. While a spokesperson declined to reveal the length of the deal, the corporate told C4ISRNET it received a $23 million contract for the primary yr of labor.
“The multiyear award will feature Hermeus’ iterative approach to technology maturation and aircraft development,” the corporate said in a press release. “Through this contract, Hermeus will reveal key enabling technologies for hypersonic aircraft in relevant environments preparing them for introduction into future programs.”
Those technologies include propulsion systems, thermal management, power generation and mission system capabilities.
The contract is a component of the DIU’s Hypersonic and High-Cadence Airborne Testing Capabilities program, or HyCAT, which is leveraging industrial technology to extend the Defense Department’s hypersonic flight-testing capability.
The Pentagon has no less than 70 programs across the military services that aim to develop hypersonic weapons and aircraft, which may travel at speeds of Mach 5 or higher. Nonetheless, the infrastructure needed to support testing for those programs, including flying testbeds, is in high demand. That shortfall limits how often the department can conduct flight tests to validate a system’s full performance or to check supporting technology.
DIU previously awarded HyCAT contracts to Hypersonix, an Australian company, and California-based firms Rocket Lab and Fenix space. The agency expects Hypersonix’ DART AE test platform to fly as early as next summer.
The organization is eyeing a second phase to this system, dubbed HyCAT 2, where it would select firms to offer payloads and other technology to integrate onto the test vehicles. That features alternative navigation and advanced communication payloads, manufacturing technology and low-cost materials.
Hermeus expects Quarterhorse to log its first flight in 2024. The testbed will carry the corporate’s Chimera turbine-based combined cycle engine, which is built on General Electric’s J85 turbojet system.
The access to flight testing and technology validation opportunities through partnerships with DIU and other defense agencies won’t only allow the corporate plans to mature Quarterhorse and Chimera, but may even contribute to its work on a second vehicle called Dark Horse.
“We’re excited to transition Quarterhorse to deliver high-speed flight test as a service and leverage it to mature the important thing technologies for Darkhorse,” Hermeus CEO AJ Piplica said in a press release. “This contract is a key element of our technique to bridge the valley of death on the strategy to a future operational hypersonic aircraft program.”
Courtney Albon is C4ISRNET’s space and emerging technology reporter. She has covered the U.S. military since 2012, with a concentrate on the Air Force and Space Force. She has reported on a number of the Defense Department’s most vital acquisition, budget and policy challenges.