Aerojet Rocketdyne – Lockheed Martin Partnership Advances Hypersonics Technology

The collaboration between two giants of the aerospace industry, along with the government agency DARPA and the Air Force Research Lab, has produced a new, more efficient and cost-effective hypersonic missile platform. 

The Hypersonic Air-breathing Weapon Concept, an air-launched hypersonic missile system, was successfully flight-tested. During its flight, it reached an altitude over 6https://www.rocket.com/5,000 feet, and hit speed in excess of Mach 5 – effectively a mile a second. 

Air-breathing vehicles utilize air captured from the atmosphere to achieve sustained propulsion. The speed and maneuverability of such hypersonic cruise missiles allow both evasion of defenses and quick strikes. Their kinetic energy can effectively destroy targets even without high explosives. 

“We are still analyzing flight test data, but are confident that we will provide the U.S. Air Force and Navy with excellent options to diversify the technology available for their future missions,” said Andrew Knoedler, HAWC program manager at DARPA’s Tactical Technology Office. 

Aerojet Rocketdyne developed the scramjets for the HAWC. 

The new scramjets are constructed through additive manufacturing, resulting in a 95% reduction in necessary components relative to the earlier X-51A Waverider system used by the Air Force. 

“Aerojet Rocketdyne is well-positioned to support our nation’s hypersonic development and production,” said Eileen P. Drake, Aerojet Rocketdyne CEO and president. “By applying decades of advanced research and development, together with engineering know-how and innovative manufacturing and materials, our products optimize performance while dramatically reducing costs and development time.” 

“Our work with DARPA and AFRL on the HAWC program demonstrates that air-breathing hypersonic systems are a cost-effective solution to address rapidly emerging threats in the global security arena,” said John Clark, vice president and general manager of Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works division. “The success of this flight test is evidence that a strong partnership between government and industry is key to solving our nation’s most difficult challenges and enabling new capabilities to counter threats to U.S. and allied forces.” 

The continued partnership between Lockheed-Martin and Aerojet Rocketdyne is expected to result in further breakthroughs. The Huntsville Business Journal will continue to monitor advancements in the field of hypersonic ballistics.