Current US hypersonic weapons projects. (General)

[sferrin]

They make cromulent points about the test program not living up to DoD's timeline and thus increasing risk that early-batch missiles could require additional work to overcome issues the testing reveals.

Gutting it will surely fix things.

 

[blane.c]

From 2012, mach 20 discussion begins about 5 minutes into the video.

From mach-20 glider to hummingbird drone

"What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail?" asks Regina Dugan, then director of DARPA, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. In this breathtaking talk she describes some of the extraordinary projects -- a robotic hummingbird, a prosthetic arm controlled by thought...

www.ted.com

 

[Moose]

They make cromulent points about the test program not living up to DoD's timeline and thus increasing risk that early-batch missiles could require additional work to overcome issues the testing reveals.

Gutting it will surely fix things.

Cutting from 12 LRIP missiles to 8 in a single year's buy is gutting it? We want the Legislature to stay involved and exercise its oversight powers, but we also don't want them micromanaging. Given the problematic schedule slip in the testing program, the House chose a credible course of action to reduce potential overruns and ding the DoD for their program management issues.

 

[sferrin]

They make cromulent points about the test program not living up to DoD's timeline and thus increasing risk that early-batch missiles could require additional work to overcome issues the testing reveals.

Gutting it will surely fix things.

Cutting from 12 LRIP missiles to 8 in a single year's buy is gutting it? We want the Legislature to stay involved and exercise its oversight powers, but we also don't want them micromanaging. Given the problematic schedule slip in the testing program, the House chose a credible course of action to reduce potential overruns and ding the DoD for their program management issues.

Step 2: "OMG the cost is going up", because NRE is the same whether you buy 8 or 12.

 

[bobbymike]

Report to Congress on Hypersonic Weapons - USNI News

The following is the July 9, 2021 Congressional Research Service report, Hypersonic Weapons: Background and Issues for Congress. From the report The United States has actively pursued the development of hypersonic weapons—maneuvering weapons that fly at speeds of at least Mach 5—as a part of its...

news.usni.org

 

[bobbymike]

Northrop Grumman Breaks Ground on New Hypersonics Facility

Northrop Grumman Breaks Ground on New Hypersonics Facility

www.nationaldefensemagazine.org

 

[Ronny]

Kinda interesting that ARRW is much smaller than we expected

 

[Moose]

They make cromulent points about the test program not living up to DoD's timeline and thus increasing risk that early-batch missiles could require additional work to overcome issues the testing reveals.

Gutting it will surely fix things.

Cutting from 12 LRIP missiles to 8 in a single year's buy is gutting it? We want the Legislature to stay involved and exercise its oversight powers, but we also don't want them micromanaging. Given the problematic schedule slip in the testing program, the House chose a credible course of action to reduce potential overruns and ding the DoD for their program management issues.

Step 2: "OMG the cost is going up", because NRE is the same whether you buy 8 or 12.

Might be more accurate to say "NRE is increasing whether you buy 8 or 12," but I see your point. That said, the potential for concurrency problems arising from the test schedule slippage which has already occurred, let alone that which may still happen, is plenty real. Trimming 4 missiles from an LRIP batch is a lot more a shot across the bow than it is a shotgun to the face.

 

[sferrin]

They make cromulent points about the test program not living up to DoD's timeline and thus increasing risk that early-batch missiles could require additional work to overcome issues the testing reveals.

Gutting it will surely fix things.

Cutting from 12 LRIP missiles to 8 in a single year's buy is gutting it? We want the Legislature to stay involved and exercise its oversight powers, but we also don't want them micromanaging. Given the problematic schedule slip in the testing program, the House chose a credible course of action to reduce potential overruns and ding the DoD for their program management issues.

Step 2: "OMG the cost is going up", because NRE is the same whether you buy 8 or 12.

Might be more accurate to say "NRE is increasing whether you buy 8 or 12," but I see your point. That said, the potential for concurrency problems arising from the test schedule slippage which has already occurred, let alone that which may still happen, is plenty real. Trimming 4 missiles from an LRIP batch is a lot more a shot across the bow than it is a shotgun to the face.

"Concurrency" has become a swear word pushed by the media. It used to happen ALL THE TIME. That's how they stood up the Minuteman force so fast. Is there risk? Obviously. That's what happens when you wait until the house is on fire before buying insurance. You have two choices: take 20 years to do anything or accept more risk and MAYBE get something when you need it.

 

[bring_it_on]

They make cromulent points about the test program not living up to DoD's timeline and thus increasing risk that early-batch missiles could require additional work to overcome issues the testing reveals.

Gutting it will surely fix things.

Cutting from 12 LRIP missiles to 8 in a single year's buy is gutting it? We want the Legislature to stay involved and exercise its oversight powers, but we also don't want them micromanaging. Given the problematic schedule slip in the testing program, the House chose a credible course of action to reduce potential overruns and ding the DoD for their program management issues.

Yes this is the correct take. Lots of talk and little movement in testing means that Congress is going to fund something that is working while still supporting the program (ARRW) as it goes through its testing. We know this because the House fully funded the R&D account for it as per what the USAF requested (so it supports the program, but not buying before flying). It specifically cited the delays in testing and the potential of that to introduce concurrency risk in case they begin building prototype weapons without completing significant portion of the testing. It's not like they reduced procurement overall, they actually added back a bunch of USAF acquisition cuts.

From the article posted earlier:

But the report applauds the Air Force's work "to keep the committee informed of the progress of ARRW flight testing." It goes on to direct the Air Force secretary to provide notice to congressional defense committees within a month after the first all-up-round test to communicate results and state whether those results support a decision to begin procuring the first lot of missiles.

Lawmakers noted the prototyping effort aims to provide up to four missiles as its early operational capability. They also provided flexibility for the service to buy additional missiles should dollars be left over from testing.

"Should the prototyping flight tests result in minimal discoveries, rendering the budgeted funds for engineering change orders excess to need, the committee supports the use of these funds to procure missiles above the eight funded in this recommendation by utilizing buy-to-budget authority," the report said.

The ARRW failed to fire from a B-52 after facing a problem during its first flight test April 5. Despite that, a service spokesman later that month told Inside Defense the missiles were still on track to begin production in FY-22 as planned.

Given the ARRW has not, so far (based on open source info), been successful in testing, it needs support for R&D, which the House has fully backed. $44 Million off a procurement request isn't gutting the program. They'll have another look once the USAF completes testing and comes back. You aren't building any sort of capability buying prototype weapons so at some point the USAF would have to complete testing and transition to a formal program of record and budget for a longer term acquisition plan and inventory and how they will pay for dozens of weapons a year in terms of the weapons in its portfolio that compete for funding.

 

[bobbymike]

AW&ST subscription needed

U.S. Hypersonic Missile Upgrade Concepts Are Now Advancing | Aviation Week Network

U.S. Army and Navy officials are planning the first round of upgrades for a joint hypersonic missile program.

aviationweek.com

 

[Moose]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1421978889677639681

View: https://twitter.com/xaviervav/status/1421978889677639681?s=19

 

[bobbymike]

Painted X-51

 

[Moose]

Painted X-51

Thats what I keep saying about Zircon, but the Ruskies insist its a real boy

 

[zebra159357]

After latest flight test failure, US Air Force hopes to keep first hypersonic missile on track for production

The AGM-183A program still needs to complete booster and all-up round flight testing before the Air Force will approve production of the new hypersonic weapon.

www.defensenews.com

“If that is a quick and rapid resolution, then we would have minimal perturbation to our schedule, and we would look to get back in the air when our next test window is available,” he told reporters during a roundtable. “If it is a little more prolonged or drives anything excessive from a redesign perspective — which we don’t know at this point — depending on how long that takes, it may impact our ability to meet our next test window as we go forward.”

“In the attempt to launch ... a week ago, we showed that that root cause, that corrective action, was sufficient and working,” he said. “And we’re now going to learn from this next step and move forward.”

“While it did not meet all flight objectives, the test demonstrated several first-time events as the program continues to track toward fielding a hypersonic capability in the early 2020s,”

 

[sferrin]

After latest flight test failure, US Air Force hopes to keep first hypersonic missile on track for production

The AGM-183A program still needs to complete booster and all-up round flight testing before the Air Force will approve production of the new hypersonic weapon.

www.defensenews.com

“If that is a quick and rapid resolution, then we would have minimal perturbation to our schedule, and we would look to get back in the air when our next test window is available,” he told reporters during a roundtable. “If it is a little more prolonged or drives anything excessive from a redesign perspective — which we don’t know at this point — depending on how long that takes, it may impact our ability to meet our next test window as we go forward.”

“In the attempt to launch ... a week ago, we showed that that root cause, that corrective action, was sufficient and working,” he said. “And we’re now going to learn from this next step and move forward.”

“While it did not meet all flight objectives, the test demonstrated several first-time events as the program continues to track toward fielding a hypersonic capability in the early 2020s,”

If they need to do "redesign" to get a solid motor to ignite there are much bigger, more fundamental, problems with the program than I imagined. The real cherry on top of the whole thing is, after failing to even get the thing off the aircraft, I would have thought that Job #1 on EVERYBODY'S list would be to triple-check everything. And then the motor doesn't even fire.

 

[flateric]

Sea Air Space 2021: Boeing Unveils New Hypersonic Cruise Missile Concept - Naval News

At Sea Air Space 2021, the naval defense exposition held near Washington DC, Boeing unveiled a new hypersonic cruise missile concept artist rendering know as HyFly 2 for carrier-based strike fighter.

www.navalnews.com

Sea Air Space 2021: Boeing Unveils New Hypersonic Cruise Missile Concept​

At Sea Air Space 2021, the naval defense exposition held near Washington DC, Boeing unveiled a new hypersonic cruise missile concept artist rendering know as HyFly 2 for carrier-based strike fighter.​

Martin Manaranche 04 Aug 2021
Boeing would not comment the artist rendering on display on their booth at the show, but the company provided Naval News with the following statement:

“The weapon concept shown at Navy League Sea-Air-Space is a stand-in representation of Boeing’s HyFly2 hypersonic cruise missile design. While the actual outer mold design is not releasable, we continue to advance our hypersonic weapon design expertise and apply it to meet the needs of a quickly evolving future where hypersonics will play a key role.”

“Boeing continues to invest in this area, and we are focused on developing and maturing key technologies for both commercial and defense applications. We’re currently engaged with propulsion risk reduction, as well as working toward a System Requirements Review, to be followed by the Preliminary Design Review.”

Apart from this statement, Boeing would not disclose too many details, but according to Aviation Week news website’s article, the U.S. Defense Department inserted Boeing into a competition to build a Mach 6 dual-combust cruise missile, the HyFly 2 program in october 2020.The Pentagon funded a preliminary design review and ground testing of the dual-combustion ramjet.

The new contract for HyFly 2 comes as the U.S. Navy prepares to make a decision in fiscal 2022 on a future hypersonic cruise missile. The HyFly 2 could join two other options in development by teams from Lockheed Martin/Aerojet, whose conceptual hypervelocity cruise missile was unveiled at SAS 2019, and Raytheon Technologies/Northrop Grumman for the DARPA’s (the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) Hypersonic Air-breathing Weapon Concept (HAWC) program.

HyFly 2 follows on initial Boeing HyFly program, a joint DARPA and U.S. Navy program that produced a demonstrator optimized for the F/A-18E/F and which resulted in three failed flight tests between 2007 and 2010.
TAGS Boeing DARPA Hypersonics Missile Sea Air Space U.S. Navy
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AUTHORS​

Posted by : Martin Manaranche
Martin Manaranche is based in Brittany, France. He is currently studying International Relations at Lyon III university. Martin conducted an internship at the French Navy's Ecole Navale in Brest and is therefore particularly fond of naval defense issues.

 

[aonestudio]

USAF-Sponsored Hypersonic BOLT Experiment Flops | Aviation Week Network

In another blow for U.S. hypersonic flight testing, John Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory confirmed that a long-delayed flow physics flight experiment supported by the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory failed to meet “all science objectives” after an anomaly with the launch vehicle.

aviationweek.com

 

[sferrin]

USAF-Sponsored Hypersonic BOLT Experiment Flops | Aviation Week Network

In another blow for U.S. hypersonic flight testing, John Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory confirmed that a long-delayed flow physics flight experiment supported by the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory failed to meet “all science objectives” after an anomaly with the launch vehicle.

aviationweek.com

"after an anomaly with the launch vehicle"

Awesome. Some days I think hypersonics in the US is run by bunch of GD Packleds.

 

[bobbymike]

After latest flight test failure, US Air Force hopes to keep first hypersonic missile on track for production

The AGM-183A program still needs to complete booster and all-up round flight testing before the Air Force will approve production of the new hypersonic weapon.

www.defensenews.com

“If that is a quick and rapid resolution, then we would have minimal perturbation to our schedule, and we would look to get back in the air when our next test window is available,” he told reporters during a roundtable. “If it is a little more prolonged or drives anything excessive from a redesign perspective — which we don’t know at this point — depending on how long that takes, it may impact our ability to meet our next test window as we go forward.”

“In the attempt to launch ... a week ago, we showed that that root cause, that corrective action, was sufficient and working,” he said. “And we’re now going to learn from this next step and move forward.”

“While it did not meet all flight objectives, the test demonstrated several first-time events as the program continues to track toward fielding a hypersonic capability in the early 2020s,”

Just watched a video showing a bunch of Pegasus launches thinking “gee that was easy”

 

[bobbymike]

'Confident' Of 2023 Fielding Goal, Army Dubs Hypersonic Weapon 'Dark Eagle' - Breaking Defense

Training with the first Long Range Hypersonic Weapon prototype system will commence on Oct. 18, says Rob Strider, deputy director of the Army Hypersonic Project Office.

breakingdefense.com

 

[bobbymike]

Next flight test of hypersonic glide body expected by year’s end

The Army and Navy are preparing to conduct a second flight test of their hypersonic glide body, a critical milestone in the development of the Long-Range Hypersonic Weapon.

www.defensenews.com

 

[bring_it_on]

Long Range Hypersonic Weapons 34.5 inch SRM during its test back in may...

 

[bobbymike]

National Hypersonic Ground Test Facility to be Built | Defense Media Network

A first-of-its-kind in the U.S. facility to test hypersonic technologies will be constructed in the Purdue Aerospace District adjacent to the Purdue Univer

www.defensemedianetwork.com

 

[Flyaway]

Scientific American - The Physics and Hype of Hypersonic Weapons
"These novel missiles cannot live up to the grand promises made on their behalf, aerodynamics shows"

The Physics and Hype of Hypersonic Weapons

These novel missiles cannot live up to the grand promises made on their behalf, aerodynamics shows

www.scientificamerican.com

 

[bring_it_on]

This test marked the successful testing of both stages of the newly developed missile booster, as well as a thrust vector control system on the SRM.

Navy Tests Second Stage Hypersonic Rocket Motor

WASHINGTON - Navy Strategic Systems Programs (SSP) successfully conducted a test of the Second Stage Solid Rocket Motor (SRM) on August 25th in Promontory, Utah as part of the development of the

www.navy.mil

 

[Ronny]

Not entirely sure if this is the new anti satellite ASM-135 or configuration for HACM?ARRW?

 

[Grey Havoc]

It is supposed to be the ARRW.

 

[Josh_TN]

Where did that picture come from?

 

[Ronny]

Where did that picture come from?

From Telegram, apparently taken in LM office

 

[bring_it_on]

Next phase SciFIRE awards happened today. Both Boeing and Lockheed Martin selected to further their offerings through a PDR.

Boeing Co., St. Louis, Missouri, was awarded a $39,660,399 cost-plus-fixed-fee modification (P00002) to previously awarded contract FA8682-21-C-0008 for Southern Cross Integrated Flight Research Experiment (SCIFiRE) Project Phase I Preliminary Design Review. The contract modification is an option exercise to mature a solid-rocket boosted, air-breathing, hypersonic conventional cruise missile, air-launched from existing fighter/bomber aircraft, through the completion of a preliminary design review. The location of performance is St. Louis, Missouri. The work is expected to be completed by Aug. 31, 2022. Fiscal 2020 and 2021 research and development funds in the amount of $1,521,862 and $8,750,000, respectively, are being obligated at the time of award. The total cumulative face value of the contract is $47,153,068. Future Hypersonics, Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, is the contracting activity.


Lockheed Martin, Palmdale, California, was awarded a $27,192,571 cost-plus-fixed-fee modification (P00002) to previously awarded contract FA8682-21-C-0009 for Southern Cross Integrated Flight Research Experiment (SCIFiRE) Project Phase I Preliminary Design Review. The contract modification is an option exercise to mature a solid-rocket boosted, air-breathing, hypersonic conventional cruise missile, air-launched from existing fighter/bomber aircraft, through the completion of a preliminary design review. The location of performance is Palmdale California. The work is expected to be completed by Aug. 31, 2022. Fiscal 2020 and 2021 research and development funds in the amount of $1,521,862 and $8,750,000, respectively, are being obligated at the time of award. The total cumulative face value of the contract is $33,499,083. Future Hypersonics, Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, is the contracting activity.

Contracts for September 1, 2021

Today's Defense Department contracts valued at $7.5 million or more are now live on Defense.gov.

www.defense.gov

 

[Josh_TN]

I assume there's a reason why SciFIRE and HACM are separate programs? It seems like they are shooting for the same thing. Redundancy? It does seem like the USAF and DARPA will throw money at anyone making a scramjet these days. Not really complaining, I think a 3D printed scram is the leap ahead technology the US needs to keep up with the competition at this point.

 

[bring_it_on]

I assume there's a reason why SciFIRE and HACM are separate programs? It seems like they are shooting for the same thing. Redundancy? It does seem like the USAF and DARPA will throw money at anyone making a scramjet these days. Not really complaining, I think a 3D printed scram is the leap ahead technology the US needs to keep up with the competition at this point.

SCiFiRE is essentially developing a more optimized ("form factor optimized") scramjet powered cruise missile prototype that can fit across a bunch of tactical platforms (including Navy F/A-18E/Fs also operated by the RAAF). It is rolling out of the AF advanced prototyping program which is also where HACM is coming out off. From the looks of it, it is essentially maturing a smaller, more optimized booster for the same cruise vehicle that HAWC matured and that HACM will end up utilizing. So could be that the AF HACM ends up using the same booster since it starts just a few months prior to the SCiFiRE PDR gets completed. The definitely seem to be highly connected.

 

[Josh_TN]

I wonder if the actual SCRAM vehicle will be the same then? I'm guessing that the tactical program would sacrifice size/range for weight. Though since both of the HAWC prototypes are 3D printed combusters, you could probably scale the entire object down pretty easily.

EDIT: Also a little surprised the USN isn't involved in SciFIRE if the RAAF is considering F-18 as the carrier.

 

[bring_it_on]

SCiFiRE actually has both USAF and USN involved in some capacity in its early stages (prototype integration on fighters). But the program is being run by the Office of Secretary of Defense (and Australia) and will eventually transition to the USAF to complete the demonstrations and prototyping effort. This makes sense since they have been involved in scramjet R&D and now prototyping since 2015. AF's HACM may use some of what is developed by SCiFIRE. Similarly, Navy's scramjet efforts might grab some of the things as well.

 

[Ronny]

 

[Josh_TN]

Wow, the HAWC spending is pretty trivial. For TBG, is says 'continue tests'. Is there open source info on TBG testing to date? I know the ARRW glider is supposed to be adapted from TBG but I've never seen an actual test of that glider documented.

 

[sferrin]

Wow, the HAWC spending is pretty trivial. For TBG, is says 'continue tests'. Is there open source info on TBG testing to date? I know the ARRW glider is supposed to be adapted from TBG but I've never seen an actual test of that glider documented.

Yeah, that HAWC spending will pay for the powerrpoints and challenge coins. Not much else.

 

[bring_it_on]

Wow, the HAWC spending is pretty trivial. For TBG, is says 'continue tests'. Is there open source info on TBG testing to date? I know the ARRW glider is supposed to be adapted from TBG but I've never seen an actual test of that glider documented.

HAWC levels are small because the program expects to finish up its remaining testing in the early-mid part of FY-22 and then wind up. Under the revised timeline, flight testing (as of the most latest budget docs) was set to begin in FY-21 (which it did) and spill over into FY-22. I think the program was to initially end in FY-21 but got pushed out into part of FY-22 because of delays in testing.

The AF expects to launch HACM around the Q2-Q3 timeframe in FY-22. That could be when it expects HAWC to finish its work so that there could be a smooth transition. Flight testing in support of TBG and HAWC isn't publicly discussed though there have obviously been leaks (there was an AvWeek article that wrongly reported some HAWC testing facts that the AF Mag cleared up later). All we know that at least nine flight tests were included in the HAWC program (MDA data shared last year points to a few of those where it will participate as a tracking exercise) though its hard to guess whether those also include booster tests (probably) or captive carry tests (probably not)..

To DARPA's $10 million request for finishing up the last bit of work on the HAWC, one must add the FY-22 request for the AF's HACM which is essentially an extension/transition of HAWC. USAF requested $200 Million for HACM in FY22 to conduct a 12 month Critical Design Review for HACM.

For TBG, is says 'continue tests'. Is there open source info on TBG testing to date? I know the ARRW glider is supposed to be adapted from TBG but I've never seen an actual test of that glider documented.

DARPA in its FY-22 budget indicated that it plans to complete two TBG flight tests in the current FY (2021) and an additional test in FY-22. It will also do captive testing on a Navy variant of TBG and also make progress on a Navy specific data-link.

 

[Grey Havoc]

Not too promising at the moment, to be honest.