The Hypersonic Air-breathing Weapon Concept (HAWC, pronounced "hawk") is a

scramjet A scramjet (supersonic combustion ramjet) is a variant of a ramjet airbreathing jet engine in which combustion takes place in supersonic airflow. As in ramjets, a scramjet relies on high vehicle speed to compress the incoming air forcefully ...

powered air-launched

hypersonic In aerodynamics, a hypersonic speed is one that exceeds 5 times the speed of sound, often stated as starting at speeds of Mach 5 and above. The precise Mach number at which a craft can be said to be flying at hypersonic speed varies, since in ...

cruise missile A cruise missile is a guided missile used against terrestrial or naval targets that remains in the atmosphere and flies the major portion of its flight path at approximately constant speed. Cruise missiles are designed to deliver a large warhe ...

project at the U.S.

Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is a research and development agency of the United States Department of Defense responsible for the development of emerging technologies for use by the military. Originally known as the Adv ...

(DARPA), that had a successful

hypersonic flight Hypersonic flight is flight through the atmosphere below altitudes of about 90 km at speeds greater than Mach 5, a speed where dissociation of air begins to become significant and high heat loads exist. Speeds of Mach 25+ have been achiev ...

announced in September 2021. It is a

kinetic energy weapon A kinetic energy weapon (also known as kinetic weapon, kinetic energy warhead, kinetic warhead, kinetic projectile, kinetic kill vehicle) is a weapon based solely on a projectile's kinetic energy instead of an explosive or any other kind of payl ...

, without an explosive

warhead A warhead is the forward section of a device that contains the explosive agent or toxic (biological, chemical, or nuclear) material that is delivered by a missile, rocket, torpedo, or bomb. Classification Types of warheads include: * Explosiv ...

. The scramjet propelled the missile at "a speed greater than Mach 5 (over 3,700 miles per hour)". The first successful flight was in September 2021. Further testing was carried out in mid-March 2022, but was kept secret at the time to avoid the impression of escalation against Russia during the

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...

. The existence of the test was revealed in early April 2022. Principal Director for Hypersonics Mike White stated that HAWC would be smaller than

hypersonic glide vehicle Hypersonic glide vehicle (HGV) is a type of warhead for ballistic missile that can maneuver and glide at hypersonic speed. It is used on ballistic missiles to significantly change their trajectories. Conventional ballistic missiles follow a predi ...

s and could therefore launch from a wider range of platforms. White additionally noted that HAWC could integrate seekers more easily.

DARPA The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is a research and development agency of the United States Department of Defense responsible for the development of emerging technologies for use by the military. Originally known as the Adv ...

requested $60 million for MoHAWC, the successor program to HAWC, in FY2023. On 18 July, 2022, the third successful flight test of the HAWC was reported by DARPA - the missile was able to fly at speed at the altitude of more than for more than . Technology developed for the HAWC demonstrator was used to influence the design of the

Hypersonic Attack Cruise Missile The Hypersonic Attack Cruise Missile (HACM) is a scramjet-powered hypersonic air-launched cruise missile project, the successor of the Hypersonic Air-breathing Weapon Concept (HAWC) and the SCIFiRE hypersonic programs. Technology developed for t ...

(HACM), a

U.S. Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Sign ...

Program of Record The processes of government procurement in the United States enable federal, state and local government bodies in the country to acquire goods, services (including construction), and interests in real property. In fiscal year 2019, the US Feder ...

to create a scramjet-powered hypersonic missile it could deploy as an operational weapon. The contract to develop HACM further was awarded to

Raytheon Raytheon Technologies Corporation is an American multinational aerospace and defense conglomerate headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. It is one of the largest aerospace and defense manufacturers in the world by revenue and market capitaliza ...

in September 2022. HACM will use a

Northrop Grumman Northrop Grumman Corporation is an American multinational aerospace and defense technology company. With 90,000 employees and an annual revenue in excess of $30 billion, it is one of the world's largest weapons manufacturers and military techn ...

scramjet.https://news.northropgrumman.com/news/releases/us-air-force-selects-raytheon-missiles-defense-northrop-grumman-to-deliver-first-hypersonic-air-breathing-missile

References

Experimental missiles {{rocket-stub