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2021-09-01

Hermeus Wins US$60 M USAF Contract for Fastest Flight Test

Hermeus Corporation, the aerospace company developing one of the world’s fastest hypersonic aircraft capable of flying at five times the speed of sound, has won a U.S. Air Force (USAF) partnership deal for flight testing its first aircraft, Quarterhorse.

The USAF is investing in the U.S.-based Hermeus via a US$60 million jointly funded contract that was awarded on July 30. The idea behind the contract is to accelerate the commercial development of the aircraft and propulsion systems.

The Mach 5-capable (3,000mph) Quarterhorse will validate the company’s proprietary turbine-based combined cycle (TBCC) engine, based around the GE J85 turbojet engine, and is the first in a line of autonomous high-speed aircraft.

By the end of the flight test campaign, Quarterhorse will not only be the fastest reusable aircraft in the world, but also the first of its kind to fly a TBCC engine.

At the anticipated speed of the proposed aircraft, a flight from New York to Paris would only take 90 minutes, compared to the seven and a half hours it typically takes today.

‘Vector Initiative’

The engagement with Hermeus is part of a larger effort led by the directorate to fuel the burgeoning commercial resurgence of high speed passenger travel, and has been dubbed the “Vector Initiative”.

The aim is to partner with commercial sector leaders to accelerate their development and, as a byproduct, advance enabling technologies that could provide the Air Force options for a variety of missions.

The award was made under the AFWERX Strategic Funding Increase programme led by the Presidential and Executive Airlift Directorate (PE) as a follow-on to a Phase II SBIR contract. The collaboration includes support from the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL).

AFWERX, an AFRL Technology Directorate – responsible for expanding technology, talent, and transition partnerships for rapid and affordable commercial and military capability – has been an integral part of the initiative’s ability to reach out to industry, and helped make the joint funding effort possible, via its Strategic Financing (StratFI) programme.

The Hermeus contract will be the first time that the StratFI programme has been used.

Col. Nathan Diller, AFWERX director, explained: “We are transforming the Air and Space Force into an early-stage ‘investor’ that leverages private capital, accelerates commercialisation of technology and grows the number of companies partnering with the Department of the Air Force. It has been great working with the team to help identify innovative companies with advanced capabilities.”

“One of our goals in supporting companies like Hermeus, is to expand the Defence Industrial Base for both aircraft manufacture, and hypersonic propulsion development,” added Brig. Gen. Jason Lindsey, the Programme Executive Officer for Presidential & Executive Airlift. “We want to have options within the commercial aircraft marketplace for platforms that can be modified for enduring Air Force missions such as senior leader transport, as well as mobility, intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance (ISR), and possibly other mission sets.”

Key Strategies

Some may argue that it is impossible to flight test a TBCC engine across the full flight envelope for less than US$100 million. However, Hermeus is taking a different approach than traditional high-speed flight test programmes. The company will be leveraging autonomous and reusable systems, ruthlessly focused requirements, and a hardware-rich programme.

These three strategies allow the team to push the envelope, sometimes strategically to the point of failure in flight test, which accelerates learning while simultaneously improving the safety of flight test crew and the public.

The contract establishes a number of objectives for Hermeus to meet within three years, to include the following:

1) Increase in the understanding of enabling technology and mission capabilities for reusable hypersonic aircraft.

2) Scale and flight test a reusable hypersonic propulsion system.

3) Develop, build and test 3 of Hermeus’ Quarterhorse concept aircraft.

4) Provide a payload integration guide for future hypersonic flight testing with Quarterhorse.

5) Provide wargaming inputs for use in Air Force strategic analysis tools.

According to Maj. Gen. Heather Pringle, commander of the Air Force Research Laboratory, “When it comes to technology, we often hear the term ‘game-changing. However, hypersonic aircraft and propulsion systems are truly game-changing, and will revolutionise how we travel, just as automobiles did in the last century.”

Following the three year period of performance, the Air Force will evaluate Hermeus’ progress, maturity of the hypersonic technology, and alignment with Air Force priorities.

The technology set Hermeus has chosen positions the company firmly in the dual-use space for hypersonic technology, i.e. technologies normally used for civilian purposes but which may have military applications.

As Hermeus CEO and co-founder, AJ Piplica, points out: “While this partnership underscores U.S. Department of Defence’s interest in hypersonic aircraft, when paired with Hermeus’ partnership with NASA announced in February 2021, it is clear that there are both commercial and defence applications for what we’re building.”

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