Photo: Hermeus
The world of hypersonic aircraft is expanding at such a rate that we will probably be faced with a literal flood of such vehicles, most of them military, in our skies. The U.S. alone, for instance, has a number of related programs running, and many will probably yield results very soon.
One such program is called Hypersonic and High-Cadence Airborne Testing Capabilities. HyCAT for short, it is run by the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) and it expands with a rapidity worthy of a better cause.
It was only in the spring of this year, for instance, when HyCAT accepted in its ranks two new hypersonic vehicles, the DART AE made by Australian company Hypersonix, and an unnamed drone produced by an American crew called Fenix Space. Then, when summer arrived, we learned of Rocket Lab's Hypersonic Accelerator Suborbital Test Electron (HASTE) vehicle being involved in the program as well.
It's almost the end of 2023 now, and HyCAT just expanded to include a high-speed aircraft demonstrator called Quarterhorse. It's a design made by a company called Hermeus, and just a stepping stone to the creation of "the world's fastest aircraft," something called the Darkhorse.
Quarterhorse has become the focus of a DIU contract aimed at finding a testbed for maturing "hypersonic aircraft subsystem and mission system technology." That means anything and everything from propulsion and thermal management to hypersonic capabilities.
The technologies that will be tested on the demonstrator, if they prove their worth, will be making their way into the new types of aircraft the wider aviation industry is working on. That is because, like several other such high-speed platforms being developed around the world, the Quarterhorse is to be used as a "high-speed flight test as a service," hinting that it will be available to anyone who needs something tested at many times over the speed of sound.
Hermeus does not say how much the contract is worth, or when it will start testing tech on the Quarterhorse to satisfy it. We are told we're talking about a multi-year agreement, but its specifics have been kept under wraps.
If the demonstrator proves itself and the tech it's going to fly, it will probably transform into the Darkhorse. That aircraft should be capable of reaching speeds of over Mach 5 (3,800 mph/6,100 kph). The aircraft is designed to use a Pratt & Whitney F100 engine, a turbine-based combined cycle technology, and a ramjet to get to those insane speeds.
The main uses envisioned for it are related to military operations, but there is a chance the tech will be used for civilian purposes as well. Sadly, at the time of writing, we have no info on when the first flight of the Darkhorse should occur.
It was only in the spring of this year, for instance, when HyCAT accepted in its ranks two new hypersonic vehicles, the DART AE made by Australian company Hypersonix, and an unnamed drone produced by an American crew called Fenix Space. Then, when summer arrived, we learned of Rocket Lab's Hypersonic Accelerator Suborbital Test Electron (HASTE) vehicle being involved in the program as well.
It's almost the end of 2023 now, and HyCAT just expanded to include a high-speed aircraft demonstrator called Quarterhorse. It's a design made by a company called Hermeus, and just a stepping stone to the creation of "the world's fastest aircraft," something called the Darkhorse.
Quarterhorse has become the focus of a DIU contract aimed at finding a testbed for maturing "hypersonic aircraft subsystem and mission system technology." That means anything and everything from propulsion and thermal management to hypersonic capabilities.
The technologies that will be tested on the demonstrator, if they prove their worth, will be making their way into the new types of aircraft the wider aviation industry is working on. That is because, like several other such high-speed platforms being developed around the world, the Quarterhorse is to be used as a "high-speed flight test as a service," hinting that it will be available to anyone who needs something tested at many times over the speed of sound.
Hermeus does not say how much the contract is worth, or when it will start testing tech on the Quarterhorse to satisfy it. We are told we're talking about a multi-year agreement, but its specifics have been kept under wraps.
If the demonstrator proves itself and the tech it's going to fly, it will probably transform into the Darkhorse. That aircraft should be capable of reaching speeds of over Mach 5 (3,800 mph/6,100 kph). The aircraft is designed to use a Pratt & Whitney F100 engine, a turbine-based combined cycle technology, and a ramjet to get to those insane speeds.
The main uses envisioned for it are related to military operations, but there is a chance the tech will be used for civilian purposes as well. Sadly, at the time of writing, we have no info on when the first flight of the Darkhorse should occur.
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