Current US hypersonic weapons projects. (General)

[sferrin]

Just trying to keep them straight. So we have (pulled from a couple different articles recently posted):

1. AGM-183A - Air-Launched Rapid Response Weapon (ARRW). "The ARRW, like many of the emerging threats, is an air-launched, rocket-boosted unpowered hypersonic glider. To be developed under a $480 million initial contract, potentially worth $780 million including early production through 2023, the ARRW work is an extension to Lockheed’s pre-existing DARPA contract under which it is building the virtually identical Tactical Boost Glide (TBG) demonstrator." Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control

2. Hypersonic Conventional Strike Weapon (HCSW). The HCSW is a solid-rocket-powered, GPS-guided missile, and is targeted at initial operational capability on existing combat aircraft in fiscal 2022. Lockheed Martin Space Systems

3. Hypersonic Air-breathing Weapon Concept (HAWC). A scramjet-powered missile demonstrator similar in concept to the Air Force Research Laboratory/Boeing X-51A scramjet-powered vehicle that exceeded Mach 5 in a 2013 flight test. Both Lockheed Martin Skunk Works and Raytheon

4. Raytheon, which is partnered with Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems (formerly Orbital ATK) on the scramjet for HAWC, is also in final negotiations with DARPA to develop and test a TBG glide demonstrator. Raytheon’s newest work is believed to be supporting DARPA development of a ship-launched TBG for the U.S. Navy. In July, Lockheed was awarded a $40.5 million Navy Hypersonic Booster Technology Development (HBTD) contract, also believed to be related to this effort.

5. Another one of the projects in the Technology Transition Program is the Advanced Full Range Engine (AFRE), which aims to demonstrate a hybrid propulsion system that would utilize a traditional turbine engine and transition to a Dual Mode Ramjet (DMRJ) for hypersonic travel. Ground tests are planned for 2019 or 2020. This is a joint effort between DARPA and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

6. The Army and Navy are also working on developing hypersonic capabilities. The Army is working with DARPA on studying a ground-launched capability for hypersonic boost glide weapons through the Operational Fires project. This effort was funded at $6 million in FY18 and $50 million in the FY19 request. Operational Fires will also leverage work done on the Air Force TBG program. The Army was previously conducting work on the Advanced Hypersonic Weapon. A successful flight test was conducted in November 2011, but an August 2014 flight test failed due to a problem with the booster rocket used to launch the glide vehicle.

7. The Navy was tasked with a follow-on test using a downsized hypersonic vehicle. Downsizing provides the Navy with the ability to analyze possible future ship-launched capabilities. The Navy's Strategic Systems Programs office conducted this test in October 2017, dubbed Flight Experiment-1. A rocket carrying the glide vehicle was launched from Hawaii, after which the glide vehicle flew more than 2,000 miles in about 30 minutes. Other details of the test were classified.

8. In addition to the ARRW, HCSW, TBG, and HAWC, Lockheed's "Skunk Works" is believed to still be working on the High Speed Strike Weapon, which sources say is a tactical missile in the Mach 3-plus category that resembles its D-21 drone, which USAF launched from SR-71s and B-52s in the 1970s. The HSSW is derivative of the Revolutionary Approach to Time Critical Long Range Strike program Lockheed explored with the Navy in the early 2000s. (This sounds more like speculation as they seem to be conflating two different programs.)

 

[GeorgeA]

Thanks sferrin for pulling this together. I'd concur with your assessment that the story around item 8 is a bit muddled.

I'd suggest that this be a pinned topic in Missile Projects. We can then hang links off this to the specific program topics (e.g., ARRW).

I'd also suggest that the Prompt Global Strike topic may have outlived its usefulness, since it's a melange of the original PCGS programs, AHW, manned and unmanned hypersonic air vehicles, the current hypersonic projects mentioned above, and God knows what else. I'd be happy to opine to a willing moderator how it might be split up when someone has the time and inclination to do so.

 

[seruriermarshal]

Navy Tests Hypersonic Glide Vehicle Technology
Published: November 6, 2017 | By Missile Defense Project

On October 30, the U.S. Navy’s Strategic Systems Program (SSP) tested a prototype conventional prompt strike missile with a modified Advanced Hypersonic Weapon (AHW) boost-glide vehicle. The test, titled Intermediate Range Conventional Prompt Strike Flight Experiment-1 (CPS FE-1), was conducted on behalf of the Department of Defense at the Pacific Missile Range Facility, Kauai, Hawaii.

“The test collected data on hypersonic boost-glide technologies and test-range performance for long-range atmospheric flight. This data will be used by the Department of Defense to anchor ground testing, modeling, and simulation of hypersonic flight vehicle performance and is applicable to a range of possible Conventional Prompt Strike (CPS) concepts,” said a Pentagon spokesman. SSP director Vice Adm. Terry Benedict called the test, “a monumental achievement.”

If selected for maturation, the CPS missile could be deployed on the future Virginia-class guided-missile submarines (SSGNs), rather than Ohio-class ballistic missile submarines. The Virginia-class subs are expected to be equipped with a Virginia Payload Module to provide the smaller submarine-class additional missile tube capacity.

https://missilethreat.csis.org/navy-tests-hypersonic-glide-vehicle-technology/

 

[bobbymike]

Thanks sferrin for pulling this together. I'd concur with your assessment that the story around item 8 is a bit muddled.

I'd suggest that this be a pinned topic in Missile Projects. We can then hang links off this to the specific program topics (e.g., ARRW).

I'd also suggest that the Prompt Global Strike topic may have outlived its usefulness, since it's a melange of the original PCGS programs, AHW, manned and unmanned hypersonic air vehicles, the current hypersonic projects mentioned above, and God knows what else. I'd be happy to opine to a willing moderator how it might be split up when someone has the time and inclination to do so.

Or restrict the PGS thread to strategic systems, although there has been a dearth of those stories lately. At this time overcoming the "It looks like an ICBM" may be too big of a political hurdle.

 

[bobbymike]

https://breakingdefense.com/2018/08/army-warhead-is-key-to-joint-hypersonics/?utm_campaign=Breaking%20News&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=65399115&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_DdVi80xYmrFnk6WDdWLiOatTZ6lEBnR8Uq-W_87o9LUJNuU13EwdE9g5NeXAv8l6TAf-LrruaClWDrf8GOnHqZlua5g&_hsmi=65399115

ARMY S&T CONFERENCE: The Army is quietly playing a crucial role in the Pentagon’s quest for hypersonic weapons. The service’s modestly named Alternate Re-Entry System is in fact a maneuverable warhead that could end up on Mach 5-plus missiles fired from Air Force bombers and Navy vessels, as well as Army launchers on land — sort of a new non-nuclear triad.
Army photo

It’s all part of Pentagon R&D chief Mike Griffin‘s all-out push to catch up with Russia and China. Both powers are testing hypersonic weapons that could zip through traditional air and missile defenses.

 

[Trident]

Regarding #1:

http://aviationweek.com/defense/first-us-air-force-rapid-response-hypersonic-weapon-agm-183a

 

[bobbymike]

http://aviationweek.com/combat-aircraft/b-52-readied-intense-hypersonic-weapons-test-and-deployment-role?utm_rid=CPEN1000000230026&utm_campaign=16243&utm_medium=email&elq2=33362d8e2d97424eba2e6634008b3ccd

The B-52H’s ample wing and external load-carrying capability have contributed to the aircraft’s prominent role in hypersonic testing and, as a result, the bomber’s future is closely tied to the upcoming demonstration and deployment of the U.S. Air Force’s first-generation hypervelocity strike weapons.

With major upgrades underway and reengining planned to sustain the B-52H to 2050, the Air Force intends to retain the long-serving bomber as the mainstay of its long-range strike fleet alongside the new Northrop Grumman B-21s as they are delivered beginning in the late 2020s. In particular, the B-52 is set to play a major role in enhancing standoff capability because rocket-boosted and air-breathing hypersonic weapons will be large, making them a challenging store for internal carriage.

ARRW and HCSW hypersonic B-52 demos to be accelerated under Section 8

 

[Jeb]

I'm curious, is the intent for these hypersonics to be warhead-carrying weapons or straight kinetic-kill vehicles or is it too early in conceptualization to even ask this?

 

[bring_it_on]

DOD eyes Common Hypersonic Glide Body for use across Army, Navy, Air Force

The Defense Department is laying the groundwork for a new triad of conventional hypersonic strike weapons to arm the military services with a Common Hypersonic Glide Body (C-HGB) paired with rockets tailored to launch from service-specific platforms, a major step toward ushering in a new class of ultrafast, maneuvering weapons across the U.S. military.

After more than a decade of development, Pentagon leaders are ready to harvest technologies matured as part of the Conventional Prompt Strike technology demonstration program by identifying potential applications across the U.S. military -- advancing the longstanding policy goal of giving the president the option to strike a target almost anywhere with a non-nuclear warhead in less than an hour.

"These technology demonstration activities have reached a level of maturity that will allow the development of hypersonic weapons based on the OSD-developed glide body design," according to a Pentagon memo signed by Defense Department leaders on June 28 outlining a collective way forward for hypersonic weapon technology development.

The Office of the Secretary of Defense has spearheaded work on Conventional Prompt Strike, sponsoring a test executed last fall by the Navy of a hypersonic boost glide prototype that flew from Hawaii to the Marshall Islands and was publicly hailed as a success in recent months by senior Pentagon officials.

"They did a brilliant job with it," Michael Griffin, under secretary of defense for research and engineering, said of the October 2017 CPS flight test during an April 18 hearing of the Senate Armed Services emerging threats and capabilities subcommittee. "I mean, I won't quote numbers, but I'll just say that the impact accuracy was quite impressive."

Based on the results of that test -- dubbed Flight Experiment-1 -- the Pentagon is setting up new enterprise-wide bureaucratic structures and processes dedicated to hypersonic weapons.

The existence of the June 28 memorandum of agreement on hypersonic boost glide technology development and its overarching objective was first reported by Inside Defense on July 23. Inside Defense recently reviewed a copy of the 11-page memo, which reveals previously unreported details.

"The Army, Navy, Air Force and [Missile Defense Agency] are considering the development of weapon systems and capabilities based on this design," states the memo. "It is important that the services develop a way to coordinate requirements, technology development schedules and industrial base issues as they pursue their respective development activities, with a goal of maintaining a common glide body design between the services and MDA."

Each service has identified a potential use for the Conventional Prompt Strike developed glide body: the Army, a Long Range Hypersonic Weapon; the Navy, which in fiscal year 2020 will take responsibility for managing the CPS program from OSD, is developing an Intermediate Range Conventional Prompt Strike program; and the Air Force is developing the Hypersonic Conventional Strike Weapon. MDA, meanwhile, is leading DOD's effort to develop a program of record to defend against maneuvering hypersonic weapons, which includes a need for hypersonic target vehicles to simulate threats.

The memo was signed, in some cases by appointed deputies, by Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering Michael Griffin, Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment Ellen Lord, Army Secretary Mark Esper, Navy Secretary Richard Spencer, Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson and Missile Defense Agency Director Lt. Gen. Samuel Greaves.

The memo calls for the establishment of a Conventional Prompt Strike Common Hypersonic Glide Body -- or CPS C-HGB -- board of directors to "coordinate C-HGB production priorities and oversee service C-HGB activities to develop and insert technology to enhance warfighting capability and reduce weapon cost."

The board is to meet at least every three months and approve production priorities and service roadmaps for technical development along with overseeing many other aspects of the C-HGB effort, according to the memo.

The board is to be chaired by the Army Space and Missile Defense Command/Army Strategic Forces Command's commanding general until the service declares initial operational capability of its Long Range Hypersonic Weapon. Other membership includes representatives from the OSD research and engineering hypersonics portfolio manager, director of the Navy's strategic systems programs, military deputy to the Air Force acquisition executive, and the MDA director, according to the memo.

 

[sferrin]

""The Army, Navy, Air Force and [Missile Defense Agency] are considering the development of weapon systems and capabilities based on this design,""

I'll believe it when I see it. Makes so much sense it almost certainly won't happen. We'll see.

 

[bobbymike]

https://insidedefense.com/daily-news/air-force-sees-easiest-path-compared-army-navy-fielding-hypersonic-weapon

NATIONAL HARBOR, MD -- The Air Force believes it has the "easiest path" among the U.S. military to fielding a long-range, maneuvering hypersonic weapon and plans to arm the B-52 bomber with such a conventionally armed weapon as soon as 2020, according to service officials. Air Force leaders revealed new details about the Hypersonic Conventional Strike Weapon (HCSW) -- one of two rapid prototyping hypersonic projects -- during the Air Force Association annual conference here, making explicit which aircraft the...

They talk about putting a warhead on an existing booster must have read my comment about this option when I made it about five years ago

 

[sferrin]

https://insidedefense.com/daily-news/air-force-sees-easiest-path-compared-army-navy-fielding-hypersonic-weapon

NATIONAL HARBOR, MD -- The Air Force believes it has the "easiest path" among the U.S. military to fielding a long-range, maneuvering hypersonic weapon and plans to arm the B-52 bomber with such a conventionally armed weapon as soon as 2020, according to service officials. Air Force leaders revealed new details about the Hypersonic Conventional Strike Weapon (HCSW) -- one of two rapid prototyping hypersonic projects -- during the Air Force Association annual conference here, making explicit which aircraft the...

They talk about putting a warhead on an existing booster must have read my comment about this option when I made it about five years ago

Air-launched ATACMs/Zombie is what they should be doin'.

https://www.secretprojects.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,28358.msg296716.html#msg296716

Use the large-expansion nozzle they used on the booster for the X-51 with it.

 

[bring_it_on]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPZt2CEwMfM

 

[bobbymike]

SECNAV sees 'seamless' cross-service hypersonic development; MOA assigns Navy roles

The Navy's top official said the department-wide effort to develop and field hypersonic boost glide weapons is "seamless," a claim made during a recent visit to Alabama with Army officials responsible for the nation's first successful Advanced Hypersonic Weapon test in 2011.

 

[GeorgeA]

Interview with Mike Griffin at the AIAA Space and Hypersonics conference held earlier this month. He bemoans the state of the hypersonic testing infrastructure as well as the fragile industrial base for TPS.

One interesting nugget within is that the Navy test of the Intermediate Range Conventional Prompt Strike Flight Experiment-1 (CPS FE-1) in October 2017 was successful, and range is quoted as "thousands of kilometers", but is limited by TPS issues.

Might be behind the paywall for a week or so.

http://aviationweek.com/defense/us-hypersonics-face-uphill-struggle-match-china-russia

 

[sferrin]

"TPS"? ???

 

[TomS]

"TPS"? ???

Thermal Protection Systems.

 

[sferrin]

Hmmm. IIRC the BGRV managed thousands of miles without heating issues half a century ago. ??? Also, I'd thought they made some breakthroughs in thin-section aero surfaces WRT heating years ago.

https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/20100023450.pdf

 

[GeorgeA]

IIRC the BGRV managed thousands of miles without heating issues half a century ago.

Columbium shingles and water-wick cooling, IIRC. Sadly, as we know from stories like FOGBANK, the fact that we could do it in 1968 doesn't mean we can do it today.

 

[sferrin]

IIRC the BGRV managed thousands of miles without heating issues half a century ago.

Columbium shingles and water-wick cooling, IIRC. Sadly, as we know from stories like FOGBANK, the fact that we could do it in 1968 doesn't mean we can do it today.

Yep. You'd think they'd have at least given past success a look.

 

[bring_it_on]

SSP is currently assessing the means to implement the goals set in the FY18 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for rapidly developing and prototyping a Navy Conventional Prompt Strike (CPS) Weapon System (WS) for integration into and tactical deployment on sea-based launch platforms to meet a time-critical national need. The Navy CPS WS will consist of the following primary subsystems:


•· Large-diameter (>30 inches) All Up Round (AUR) [encapsulated missile with a Hypersonic Glide Body (HGB)].


•· Weapon Control System (WCS) for Fire Control.


•· Advanced Payload Module (APM) with AURs in a three-pack configuration. The APM interfaces the AUR to the host platform and includes a support structure, protection, compressed air ejectors, and environmental control not provided by the host platform.


•· Shipboard Information System (IS) to provide technical documentation, training, data logs, other technical information onboard the host platform, and potential interfaces to offboard support systems.

https://www.fbo.gov/index?s=opportunity&mode=form&id=d3371e91ce62b38b4ce65a8565be3526&tab=core&_cview=0

 

[bobbymike]

•· Large-diameter (>30 inches) All Up Round (AUR) [encapsulated missile with a Hypersonic Glide Body (HGB)].

Nice, Midgetman was only 46in diameter. Need about 3k range for SCS operations.

 

[bring_it_on]

...

 

[sferrin]

Just trying to keep them straight. So we have (pulled from a couple different articles recently posted):

1. AGM-183A - Air-Launched Rapid Response Weapon (ARRW). "The ARRW, like many of the emerging threats, is an air-launched, rocket-boosted unpowered hypersonic glider. To be developed under a $480 million initial contract, potentially worth $780 million including early production through 2023, the ARRW work is an extension to Lockheed’s pre-existing DARPA contract under which it is building the virtually identical Tactical Boost Glide (TBG) demonstrator." Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control

2. Hypersonic Conventional Strike Weapon (HCSW). The HCSW is a solid-rocket-powered, GPS-guided missile, and is targeted at initial operational capability on existing combat aircraft in fiscal 2022. Lockheed Martin Space Systems

3. Hypersonic Air-breathing Weapon Concept (HAWC). A scramjet-powered missile demonstrator similar in concept to the Air Force Research Laboratory/Boeing X-51A scramjet-powered vehicle that exceeded Mach 5 in a 2013 flight test. Both Lockheed Martin Skunk Works and Raytheon

4. Raytheon, which is partnered with Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems (formerly Orbital ATK) on the scramjet for HAWC, is also in final negotiations with DARPA to develop and test a TBG glide demonstrator. Raytheon’s newest work is believed to be supporting DARPA development of a ship-launched TBG for the U.S. Navy. In July, Lockheed was awarded a $40.5 million Navy Hypersonic Booster Technology Development (HBTD) contract, also believed to be related to this effort.

5. Another one of the projects in the Technology Transition Program is the Advanced Full Range Engine (AFRE), which aims to demonstrate a hybrid propulsion system that would utilize a traditional turbine engine and transition to a Dual Mode Ramjet (DMRJ) for hypersonic travel. Ground tests are planned for 2019 or 2020. This is a joint effort between DARPA and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

6. The Army and Navy are also working on developing hypersonic capabilities. The Army is working with DARPA on studying a ground-launched capability for hypersonic boost glide weapons through the Operational Fires project. This effort was funded at $6 million in FY18 and $50 million in the FY19 request. Operational Fires will also leverage work done on the Air Force TBG program. The Army was previously conducting work on the Advanced Hypersonic Weapon (AHW). A successful flight test was conducted in November 2011, but an August 2014 flight test failed due to a problem with the booster rocket used to launch the glide vehicle.

7. The Navy was tasked with a follow-on test using a downsized hypersonic vehicle. (CPS?) Downsizing provides the Navy with the ability to analyze possible future ship-launched capabilities. The Navy's Strategic Systems Programs office conducted this test in October 2017, dubbed Flight Experiment-1. A rocket carrying the glide vehicle was launched from Hawaii, after which the glide vehicle flew more than 2,000 miles in about 30 minutes. Other details of the test were classified.

8. In addition to the ARRW, HCSW, TBG, and HAWC, Lockheed's "Skunk Works" is believed to still be working on the High Speed Strike Weapon, which sources say is a tactical missile in the Mach 3-plus category that resembles its D-21 drone, which USAF launched from SR-71s and B-52s in the 1970s. The HSSW is derivative of the Revolutionary Approach to Time Critical Long Range Strike program Lockheed explored with the Navy in the early 2000s. (This sounds more like speculation as they seem to be conflating two different programs.)

"The veil of secrecy has lifted over one of the Pentagon’s largest hypersonic weapons programs, revealing new details of a triservice rush to adapt a nearly 40-year-old experimental maneuvering reentry vehicle concept into an air-, sea- or land-launched common-boost-glide weapon.

The revelations provide deeper insight into plans that unite three separate projects—the U.S. Army’s Advanced Hypersonic Weapon (AHW), the Air Force’s Hypersonic Conventional Strike Weapon (HCSW) and the Navy’s Conventional Prompt Strike (CPS)—under a single Defense Department-wide program to field a Mach 6 missile by 2021."

http://aviationweek.com/defense/sandia-s-swerve-could-lead-first-gen-hypersonic-production-line

H/T to Bobbymike.

 

[bobbymike]

http://www.airforcemag.com/MagazineArchive/Pages/2018/November%202018/Air-Force-Feels-the-Need-for-Speed.aspx

Deputy Defense Secretary Patrick M. Shanahan, in a keynote address at the conference, said the commercial aircraft industry is far ahead of the US military in understanding aircraft sustainment and wringing savings out of it.

The military should be “humble” and learn from “those who do it well.” Shanahan said the military should “rip off and deploy the tools and systems” aircraft maintainers need to get the job done faster and at less cost.

According to Roper, the Hypersonic Conventional Strike Weapon (HCSW, pronounced “Hacksaw”) could be operational as soon as December 2020. It’s “a fact that we can compress the development into two years,” he said, although admitting that dates could slip because of the need to “test aggressively.”

The HCSW will then follow a “spiral development” plan, Roper said.

“You’ll go into some low rate of production, then keep spiraling the technology until you get enough bells and whistles on the weapon and you say, ‘That’s the one I want to buy,’ ” he explained. Too many programs have faltered in the past because the service attempted to reach the objective capability in the initial version. That resulting “concurrent risk” slowed development and jacked up cost.

“We’re trying not to do this” with hypersonics, Roper said.

The HCSW is only one of at least four hypersonic projects USAF is pursuing, including boost-glide munitions and air-breathing missiles with longer range and maneuverability.

Among the US Armed Forces, the Air Force is “out of the starting gates the fastest” on hypersonics and will likely be the first to have an operational weapon, Roper said. The services are working together though. Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson said cooperation with the Army and Navy has already “saved 10 years” of development effort. The services are sharing effort on overlapping technologies, while leaving each free to concentrate on their unique launch requirements.

They have agreed “to use the best technology, no matter where it comes from; go fast, share results, and build harmony,” Wilson said.

Roper said the HCSW and test models from the other services would likely be test-launched from B-52s.

 

[bobbymike]

https://www.facebook.com/DefenseNews/videos/286481638629050/

Lockheed Martin's EVP for Missiles & Fire Control, Frank St. John, lays out the company's work on hypersonics -- and how it's not really a new thing.

 

[bobbymike]

http://aviationweek.com/defense/mda-joins-tri-service-hypersonic-weapon-program?NL=AW-05&Issue=AW-05_20181023_AW-05_726&sfvc4enews=42&cl=article_1&utm_rid=CPEN1000000230026&utm_campaign=17057&utm_medium=email&elq2=11451d850bf04937a11a8a0e87dc6fa7

The U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA) has joined the Army, Air Force and Navy in a partnership formed to urgently develop a new hypersonic weapon within about three years, the Army confirmed to Aerospace DAILY Oct. 22.

MDA’s role in the Hypersonic Glide Body (HGB), which has not previously been disclosed, allows the agency to acquire a relevant missile to use as a target.

 

[bring_it_on]

Operational Fires (OpFires) Propulsion System Contract Award to Sierra Nevada Corporation

 

[sferrin]

Operational Fires (OpFires) Propulsion System Contract Award to Sierra Nevada Corporation

That seems like an odd choice. ???

 

[TomcatViP]

 Concise description of the funding opportunity – The OpFires Propulsion System task
will be a two-phased effort to design and develop innovative propulsion concepts and
technologies enabling a novel ground-launched system for tactical weapons deployment.
 Total amount anticipated to be awarded – Approximately $35M for Propulsion
System Design and Development.
 Anticipated individual awards – Multiple awards are anticipated
[...]
DARPA plans to award multiple Phase 1 base efforts with Phase 2 options to be
exercised/awarded at the end of Phase 1 based on concept viability and program execution.

while

Contract Award Dollar Amount:
$5,249,235 (Base) and $4,298,472 (Option)

Couldn't it be just the first award? In anyway, congrats to Sierra Nevada.

 

[marauder2048]

Army to re-purpose Navy booster and build road-mobile, deep-strike hypersonic weapon

By Ashley Tressel Jason Sherman
November 5, 2018 at 2:34 PM

The Army is launching a Long-Range Hypersonic Weapon program to develop a capability to punch through
contested, anti-access environments - a big-ticket acquisition project that will re-purpose a Navy hypersonic
booster being developed by Lockheed Martin for use on a road-mobile system, giving ground forces a
conventionally armed strategic system for the opening salvos of a major fight. On Oct. 4, the Army presented
secret plans for this new deep-strike weapon to a select industry audience, setting in motion an...

https://insidedefense.com/daily-news/army-re-purpose-navy-booster-and-build-road-mobile-deep-strike-hypersonic-weapon

For reference on the intermediate range booster stack:

SSP seeks input from industry to determine if there are sources capable of satisfying its potential requirements
to design two Technology Booster Solid Rocket Motor stages. The booster should use high energy Hazard Class 1.3
propellant, be capable of Intermediate Range, and in the 30 to 40 inch diameter class. The anticipated primary
deliverables are a Technology Booster Design Disclosure, a Performance Analysis and Design Report, a Technology
Booster Demonstration Static Firing Test Plan and associated Post-Test Analysis Report.

The potential booster design, build, and ground test does not reflect any endorsement by the Department of Defense
nor does it reflect any policy considerations that may apply to any given concept (e.g., basing arrangements, treaty compliance, etc.)

From March of 2017; that last chunk on treaty compliance is cute.

 

[bring_it_on]

Program Targets Innovative Propulsion Solutions for Ground-Based Weapons Delivery System

The joint DARPA/U.S. Army Operational Fires (OpFires) program will soon kick off with three performers awarded contracts to begin work: Aerojet Rocketdyne, Exquadrum, and Sierra Nevada Corporation. OpFires aims to develop and demonstrate a novel ground-launched system enabling hypersonic boost glide weapons to penetrate modern enemy air defenses and rapidly and precisely engage critical time sensitive targets.

OpFires seeks to develop innovative propulsion solutions that will enable a mobile, ground-launched tactical weapons delivery system capable of carrying a variety of payloads to a variety of ranges. Phase 1 of the program will be a 12-month effort focused on early development and demonstration of booster solutions that provide variable thrust propulsion across robust operational parameters in large tactical missiles.

“OpFires represents a critical capability development in support of the Army’s investments in long-range precision fires,” says DARPA’s OpFires program manager, Maj. Amber Walker (U.S. Army). “These awards are the first step in the process to deliver this capability in support of U.S. overmatch.”

The OpFires program will conduct a series of subsystem tests designed to evaluate component design and system compatibility for future tactical operating environments. Phase 2 will mature designs and demonstrate performance with hot/static fire tests targeted for late 2020. Phase 3, which will focus on weapon system integration, will culminate in integrated end-to-end flight tests in 2022.

 

[TomcatViP]

The two last news entry of the Exquadrum website

Approved for Public Release (PA 12871)

November 1, 2012

DESLA Team Successfully Tests Thrust Chamber and Nozzle Technologies Key for Advanced Upper Stage Engine

VICTORVILLE, CA – November 1, 2012 The DESLA Team, which is comprised of Exquadrum, WASK Engineering, and ATK (NYSE: ATK), announce they have successfully conducted testing on a modular thrust chamber design and aerospike nozzle as part of AFRL research efforts. The data gathered on these programs will be leveraged for the Dual Expander Short Length Aerospike (DESLA) engine.

Exquadrum conducted a series of full-scale hot fire tests up to 100 percent chamber pressure on the modular thrust chamber funded under the Deep Throttle Enabling Nozzle Technology SBIR contract at its Adelanto, California test facility. The modular thrust chamber enables modern manufacturing methods that significantly lowers recurring and non-recurring costs, which are necessary to achieve an affordable engine while enhancing overall system performance.

“The successful testing of the modular thruster demonstrates both the performance and significant cost savings this technology provides," said Philip Pelfrey, Executive Vice President for Exquadrum.

Additionally, WASK Engineering has successfully completed baseline performance cold flow testing of a 30 percent length annular aerospike nozzle from sea level to vacuum conditions as part of the Third Generation Reusable Boost (3GRB) Program at the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Nozzle Test Facility in Huntsville, Alabama. The testing obtained high quality data that validated computer tools and performance predictions which will be used for the DESLA engine.

“The results of this testing effort validated the performance predictions for the nozzle technology we are using for DESLA”, said Wendel Burkhardt, President of WASK Engineering.

The DESLA engine is an advanced, 30,000 pound thrust liquid hydrogen / liquid oxygen upper stage engine intended for the Air Force’s Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) and NASA’s next generation Cryogenic Propulsion System (CPS).

AFRL has awarded Exquadrum a nine month contract to develop a novel upper stage engine cycle. In performance of the contract, Exquadrum will further develop its SLATE dual-bleed expander cycle engine conceptual design and conduct proof-of-concept demonstration testing. The SLATE engine enables lower pump discharge and system pressures for high-reliability and reduced weight.

The goal of the program is to reduce the weight and cost of the upper stage rocket engine while maintaining state-of-the-art performance and increasing reliability, operability, and scalability. Exquadrum’s upper stage rocket engine concept is significantly smaller and lighter than historical engines, is scalable to larger thrust levels, and promises increased stability over any existing conventional thrust chamber of comparable engine size.

and (not the least of the marvel for us old-world EU):

A HISPANIC OWNED RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT ENGINEERING CORPORATION

 

[bobbymike]

Navy turns to Lockheed Martin for hypersonic flight test support through 2023

The Navy is turning to its trusted supplier for submarine-launched intercontinental ballistic missiles -- Lockheed Martin's Sunnyvale, CA, business unit -- to design, develop, build and integrate large rocket motors and missile bodies to support test flights of the service's hypersonic boost-glide vehicle program.

 

[fredymac]

AFRL hypersonic projects.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yDPfOO0e_aM

 

[dark sidius]

Great video, but nothing about a hypersonic reusable drone.

 

[marauder2048]

Aerojet Rocketdyne Awarded DARPA Contract to Design Advanced OpFires Propulsion System

Contract leverages company’s expertise in hypersonic technology
Goal is to develop a mobile, long-range weapon that could engage time-sensitive targets
Design work could lead to hardware development and testing

HUNTSVILLE, Ala., Dec. 11, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Aerojet Rocketdyne will design propulsion concepts and
technologies for a novel ground-launched tactical weapon system under a U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects
Agency (DARPA) contract potentially valued at $13.4 million.

DARPA’s Operational Fires, or OpFires, program seeks to develop a mobile missile system that would be capable of
delivering a variety of tactical payloads to different ranges that could rapidly and precisely engage time-sensitive targets.
The program will leverage and integrate ongoing investments being made in hypersonic tactical boost glide vehicles.

“We are very pleased to have been selected by DARPA to develop propulsion technologies to support the OpFires
program,” said Eileen Drake, CEO and president of Aerojet Rocketdyne. “Our innovative team has a tremendous amount
of experience developing hypersonic and missile technologies, such as solid rocket booster motors, divert and attitude
control systems, warheads and scramjet propulsion systems. We look forward to applying our experience to the OpFires
program.”

The first phase of the OpFires program is focused on the design and development of an advanced solid rocket motor and
is valued at $4.6 million over a 12-month period. The award contains an option for Phase 2, under which Aerojet
Rocketdyne would build and test at least two representative booster test articles. That option, if exercised, would be
worth $8.8 million over 12 month

...

http://rocket.com/article/aerojet-rocketdyne-awarded-darpa-contract-design-advanced-opfires-propulsion-system

 

[marauder2048]

DOD Contracts for Dec. 20, 2018

Lockheed Martin Space, Sunnyvale, California is awarded a maximum amount
$40,000,000 un-priced letter contract for the design, development, build and
integration of large diameter rocket motors, associated missile body flight articles, and
related support equipment for Navy Intermediate Range Conventional Prompt Strike
weapon system flight test demonstrations. Work will be performed at Sunnyvale,
California, with an expected completion date of September 30, 2022. Fiscal 2018
research, development, test, and evaluation funds in the amount of $20,000,000 are
being obligated on this award, which will expire at the end of the current 2019 fiscal.
Strategic Systems Programs, Washington, District of Columbia, is the contracting
activity (N00030-19-C-0025).

 

[bring_it_on]

DARPA pursues materials, architecture to cool hypersonic vehicles

To address the challenge DARPA has initiated the Materials, Architectures, and Characterization for Hypersonics (MACH) programme. The programme seeks to develop and demonstrate new design and material solutions for sharp, shape-stable, high heat flux capable leading edge systems for hypersonic vehicles travelling more than five times the speed of sound.

DARPA is seeking expertise in thermal engineering and design, advanced computational materials development, architected materials design, fabrication and testing (including net shape fabrication of high temperature metals, ceramics, and their composites), hypersonic leading-edge design and performance, and advanced thermal protection systems. DARPA has specified that it does not want research “that primarily results in evolutionary improvements to the existing state of practice”.

The MACH programme will comprise two technical areas. The first area aims to develop and mature a fully integrated passive thermal management system to cool leading edges based on scalable net-shape manufacturing and advanced thermal design. The second technical area will focus on next-generation hypersonic materials research, applying modern high-fidelity computation capabilities to develop new passive and active thermal management concepts, coatings, and materials for future cooled hypersonic leading edge applications.

Bill Carter, Program Manager in DARPA’s Defense Sciences Office (DSO), said, “For decades people have studied cooling the hot leading edges of hypersonic vehicles but haven’t been able to demonstrate practical concepts in flight.

“The key is developing scalable materials architectures that enable mass transport to spread and reject heat. In recent years we’ve seen advances in thermal engineering and manufacturing that could enable the design and fabrication of very complex architectures not possible in the past. If successful, we could see a breakthrough in mitigating aerothermal effects at the leading edge that would enhance hypersonic performance,” he added.

The DSO will convene a Proposers Day meeting on 22 January 2019 to advise potential proposers on the objectives of the MACH programme.

 

[bring_it_on]

Aviation Week reports that the schedule for DARPA/USAF Tactical Boost Glide has moved from late-June 2019 to December 2019 owing to "technical challenges" and this along with delays in FY18 funding/awards have pushed the ARRW pre-design review and a flight test of the first instrumented measurement vehicle to this summer (should have been done by now) since ARRW apparently shares the glide vehicle with DARPA's TBG. HCSW which apparently uses the the "Swerve" inspired vehicle is on track for a December 2020 flight test with PDR scheduled for this June with a CDR for next March.

Full article is behind a paywall and also sheds some light on glide vehicle defense programs and concepts -

Top U.S. Hypersonic Weapon Program Facing New Schedule Pressure

The cost, timing and critical risks of the U.S. military’s plans to counter Russia and China’s new hypersonic weapons are emerging from secrecy. As the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) begins prototyping components of a broad new hypersonic surveillance and defense architecture, the U.S. Air Force’s two hypersonic weapons programs launched last year are expected to achieve operational status within two years, despite technical problems slowing an associated program....