As revealed in a report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) of the United States, the Air Force will carry out 13 tests of a new hypersonic missile known as Hypersonic Attack Cruise Missile (HACM). They hope to take place between October 2024 and March 2027.
The aforementioned report indicates that the hypersonic missile program is scheduled to undergo a critical review of its design in 2025. In that sense, it is expected that a defense program can be reached in 2027 with its consequent production of units. The development of the HACM will have a value of USD 1.9 billion, which will cover the 13 necessary tests along with the engineering and associated materials.
The HACM will be an air-launched hypersonic missile powered by a scramjet engine designed by Northrop Grumman and designed to maintain stand-off strike capability against high-value, heavily defended targets.
This began development in 2022 in a joint effort between the Air Force and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) called Hypersonic Air-breathing Weapon Concept, or HAWC, which served as a prototype for the HACM. Raytheon was chosen to develop the weapon over competitors Boeing and Lockheed in 2022.
The program began without a formal programming risk assessment, but one was approved in June 2023, according to the report. The program is also using digital design tools and completely digital design reviews.
On the other hand, the report also mentions that the HACM is being integrated with the Southern Cross Integrated Flight Research Experiment, a joint effort between the US and Australia. In that sense, several of the HACM tests will be carried out in Australia, launched from F/A-18s of the Royal Australian Air Force.
Finally, the Air Force’s 2025 budget indicated that HACM operations will include continuing design and integration on the F-15E and F/A-18E/F aircraft, and “free flight tests of HACM prototypes”. On the other hand, the research and development budget for the HACM calls for USD 516.9 million in 2025; USD 448.6 million in 2026; USD 274.1 million in 2027; USD 200.8 million in 2028 and USD 202.6 million in 2029, at which time the development is expected to conclude.
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