The Hypersonic Air-breathing Weapon Concept (HAWC)
vehicle, developed under a partnership of the US Air Force and the Defense Advanced
Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has made a free flight the week of Sept. 20,
The vehicle, which was built by Raytheon Technologies with a
hypersonic engine built by Northrop Grumman, flew faster than Mach 5
DARPA has declined to say how long the vehicle flew.
The Pentagon stated that the United States has tested
an air-breathing hypersonic weapon capable of speeds faster than five times the speed of sound,
marking the first successful test of the class of weapon since 2013.
In this video Defense Updates reports on successful test
of Hypersonic Air-breathing Weapon Concept (HAWC) Let's get into the details.
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An object is said to be hypersonic once they exceed the speeds of Mach
5 that is 5 times the speed of sound.
This is about 1,715 meters per second or 3,836mph or 6,174 km/h.
Hypersonic weapons are being persuaded by several advanced militaries since the speed
makes them almost impossible to defend against with the most current air defense systems.
U.S Air Force is working on multiple hypersonic weapons.
The service has stated it plans to pursue both the Air-Launched
Rapid Response (ARRW) and the Hypersonic Attack Cruise Missile (HACM)
based on HAWC, as initial and future hypersonic attack capabilities, respectively.
While ARRW is expected to be deployed in B-52 , HACM will
be smaller and carried on fighter-sized aircraft.
There are currently 3 methods being applied to make hypersonic weapons.
The first is through the use of ALBM or Air-Launched Ballistic missile.
As the name suggests, this kind of missile is ballistic in nature but is launched from air,
unlike traditional ballistic missiles which are launched from land or sea-based platforms.
The second is using HGV or Hypersonic Glide Vehicle. In this method, the system is launched
to extremely high altitudes using a Ballistic Missile where it skips across the Earth’s
upper atmosphere. The vehicle then separates from the carrier and glides back to the earth
towards its intended target attaining hypersonic speed. This is the technique used for ARRW
The third is using a Scramjet engine. The scramjet is an innovation on the Ramjet.
Ramjet engines can power flight to supersonic speeds
but scramjet can enable the missiles to reach hypersonic speeds.
The scramjet engine can power a hypersonic cruise missile. HAWC uses this approach.
DARPA said,
The engine “compressed incoming air mixed with its hydrocarbon fuel and began igniting that
fast-moving airflow mixture, propelling the cruiser at a speed greater than Mach 5,”
All of the “primary” goals of the test flight were achieved,
including “vehicle integration and release sequence, safe separation from the launch
aircraft, booster ignition and boost, booster separation and engine ignition, and cruise.”
DARPA tactical technology office program manager Andrew Knoedler said,
“The HAWC free flight test was a successful demonstration of the capabilities that will
make hypersonic cruise missiles a highly effective tool for our warfighters,”
He added the test “brings us one step closer to transitioning HAWC to a program of record
that offers next-generation capability to the U.S military.”
The HAWC flight test data “will help validate affordable system designs
and manufacturing approaches that will field air-breathing
hypersonic missiles to our warfighters in the near future,” DARPA said.
Knoedler said HAWC builds on previous hypersonic scramjet projects, including the
X-30 National Aero-Space Plane “as well as unmanned flights of NASA’s X-43 vehicles
and the U.S. Air Force’s X-51 Waverider,” A DARPA spokesman quoted Knoedler as saying,
“We are readying our next vehicles and working toward additional flight tests later in the year.”
Knoedler said the test is “the culmination of years of successful government and industry
partnership, where a single, purpose-driven team accomplished an extremely challenging
goal through intense collaboration.” He credited a partnership of the Air Force
and “Navy flight test personnel who persevered through the pandemic to make the magic happen.”
U.S Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall said last week he’s not satisfied with the pace
of achievement in USAF’s hypersonic missile programs and pledged an upcoming “deep dive”
into the various programs underway, looking for ways to improve and accelerate them.
HAWC has seen some delays and hence this comes as a major boost.
DARPA requested $10 million for HAWC in the fiscal year 2022,
but the agency has not released a projected date for transitioning the project to the Air Force.
Since Hypersonic Attack Cruise Missile (HACM)
is based on the research being done under the HAWC project, a lot is riding on HAWC.
The HACM will have a longer range than the ARRW because it can use ambient air for oxidizer,
rather than relying on the boost provided by the carrier missile-like in ARRW.
It is expected that things will move swiftly from here
and US Air Force will have a fully working prototype by next year.