A DARPA-led project has successfully completed final testing of Lockheed Martin’s Hypersonic Air-Breathing Weapon Concept (HAWC) missile. Powered by an Aerojet Rocketdyne scramjet, the spacecraft reached velocities in excess of Mach 5 on a 300 nm (350 miles, 560 km) course.
This month’s test flight was a joint venture between DARPA, the United States Air Force, Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), Lockheed Martin and AeroJet Rocketdyne. As in his two previous test flights, a vehicle consisting of solid rocket motor boosters, a glider protection shroud, and a glider his vehicle with a kinetic energy projectile warhead was the B-52H Stratofortress bomber. was dropped from
After deployment, the boosters fired automatically, accelerating the glider to supersonic speeds before the scramjet engine took over, accelerating the glider to more than five times the speed of sound above 60,000 feet (18,000 m).
Lockheed said the test doubled the data on the scramjet engine used to power the missile. This is one of two versions of him being considered by the US Air Force. Another is developed by Raytheon. The data will be used to improve the technology and broaden the performance envelope before the next phase of three test flights, in which the missile is equipped with a live warhead.
“The HAWC program has produced a new generation of hypersonic engineers and scientists,” said Andrew “Tippy” Noedler, HAWC Program Manager. “HAWC has also brought a wealth of data and progress to the air-breathing hypersonic community. had.”
Source: DARPA, Lockheed
