HUNTSVILLE — An advanced Aerojet Rocketdyne scramjet engine powered the flight of the Hypersonic Air-breathing Weapon Concept in late January, the company announced. The project is in partnership with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, Air Force Research Laboratory, and Lockheed Martin.
This is the second successful flight test for this team, Aerojet Rocketdyne said in a news release.
“Aerojet Rocketdyne is proud to be a key part of the team demonstrating maturity in advanced hypersonic flight,” said Eileen Drake, Aerojet Rocketdyne CEO and president. “With a second successful flight test now complete, we are, along with our partners, one step closer to making affordable hypersonic flight a reliable capability in support of national defense.”
Launched from a B-52, the test flight exceeded Mach 5 while traveling more than 300 nautical miles at altitudes exceeding 60,000 feet, accomplishing all primary test objectives, according to the news release.
The goal of the DARPA HAWC program is to develop and demonstrate critical technologies to enable an effective and affordable air-launched hypersonic cruise missile system. The test flight increased the amount of scramjet-powered vehicle performance data to help bring this vision to fruition, the company said.
Aerojet Rocketdyne said it is continually improving the aerothermal performance, affordability, scalability and rapid manufacturability of scramjet engines to meet emerging needs for hypersonic missile and aircraft applications.
Aerojet Rocketdyne manufactures products to support hypersonics, including solid rocket motor boosters, warheads and missile defense technologies.
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