Accelerating Development Pace Toward Hypersonic Aircraft

Hermeus, an aerospace and defense company specializing in high-speed  aircraft, announced the flight of its Quarterhorse MK 1 aircraft at the Air Force Test Center at Edwards Air Force Base, a significant step in the company’s pace of high-Mach and hypersonic aircraft development.

Development of the Quarterhorse MK 1 went from clean sheet to flight-ready in just over a year, demonstrating its rapid pace in advancing the mission of Hermeus to make hypersonic flight operational.

The test campaign was focused on validating high-speed takeoff and landing a large uncrewed aircraft. Its unique configuration is dictated by high-speed flight and makes basic operations like takeoff and landing more challenging than that of conventional aircraft.

AJ Piplica, CEO and Co-Founder of Hermeus said, “Mk 1 has redefined the pace of developing and flying new aircraft,” said “I’m incredibly proud of what our team has accomplished. We’ve proven the viability of our iterative development approach. But this is just the start. We have much more to do as the bar rises for the next iteration.”

Maj. Gen. Scott Cain, Commander of the Air Force Test Center said, “Industry partnerships continue to have an important role in the development and test of disruptive and innovative capabilities for our warfighters. The promise of routine hypersonic flight is an exciting capability for the joint team.”

Skyler Shuford, President and Co-Founder of Hermeus said, “The real-world flight data from Mk 1 provides significant technical value that we’re rolling into our next aircraft. Moreover, the team has accomplished this milestone on a challenging timeline while operating within the overall aerospace ecosystem — all to support rebuilding America’s lost capability to quickly develop brand-new, full-scale jets.”

Data from the flight campaign has validated the aerodynamics, stability, and control. It also validated subsystems including propulsion, fuel systems, hydraulics, power, thermal management, avionics, software, telemetry, flight termination, and command and control.

The team will incorporate the data, lessons learned, and the performance results into the Quarterhorse MK 2, Hermeus’ next iteration.

FMI:  www.hermeus.com/