Aerojet Rocketdyne's Advanced Scramjet Engine Powers Hypersonic Vehicle Flight in Partnership with DARPA, AFRL, LM

In partnership with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) and Lockheed Martin team, an advanced Aerojet Rocketdyne scramjet engine powered the recent flight (announced Jan. 30) of the Hypersonic Air-breathing Weapon Concept (HAWC). This is the second successful flight test for this team.

Launched from a B-52, the test flight exceeded Mach 5 while traveling more than 300 nautical miles at altitudes exceeding 60,000 feet, accomplishing all primary test objectives. The goal of the DARPA HAWC program is to develop and demonstrate critical technologies to enable an effective and affordable air-launched hypersonic cruise missile system. This test flight increased the amount of scramjet powered vehicle performance data to help bring this vision to fruition.

"Aerojet Rocketdyne is proud to be a key part of the team demonstrating maturity in advanced hypersonic flight," said Eileen P. Drake, Aerojet Rocketdyne CEO and president. "With a second successful flight test now complete, we are, along with our partners, one step closer to making affordable hypersonic flight a reliable capability in support of national defense."

Aerojet Rocketdyne has continued to improve the aerothermal performance, affordability, scalability and rapid manufacturability of scramjet engines to meet emerging needs for hypersonic missile and aircraft applications.

Along with innovative scramjets, Aerojet Rocketdyne manufactures a wide range of products to support hypersonics, including solid rocket motor boosters, warheads and missile defense technologies.