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Quarterhorse, the Air Force’s Next Hypersonic Aircraft, Has Taken an Epic Leap
Darren Orf
Wed, January 25, 2023 at 9:00 AM CST
Air Force’s Hypersonic Aircraft Takes an Epic LeapHermeus
Capable of flying in excess of Mach 3.2 (around 2,200 mph), the SR-71 has been the pinnacle of aviation speed for nearly half a century, but the Atlanta-based aviation company Hermeus thinks it’s time for a little competition. The company’s vision of hypersonic flight (meaning speeds faster than Mach 5) isn’t one reserved for clandestine spy missions, however. That’s because Hermeus wants to bring hypersonic airliners to an airport near you.
In 2021, the Air Force awarded Hermeus a $60 million contract to develop three uncrewed concept aircraft, including the hypersonic “Quarterhorse.” Late last year, Hermeus passed a major milestone by successfully firing a turbojet-ramjet hybrid engine, known as “Chimera.”
The air-breathing monster behind the powerful SR-71 is a Pratt & Whitney J58 turbojet engine, which maxes out at speeds around Mach 3. In Hermeus’s hypersonic design, a ramjet, which can only operate at high speeds as it uses this air to pressurize air and fuel in the combustion chamber, kicks in and carries the theoretical Quarterhorse aircraft to Mach 5 and beyond. For any plane hoping to dethrone the Blackbird, its engine needs to somehow seamlessly transition between turbojet, ramjet, and back to turbojet—and Hermeus has already pulled off that delicate piece of aviation engineering.
“We just demonstrated a mode transition, which means we went from turbojet mode to ramjet mode,” Hermeus co-founder and CTO Glenn Case said in a recent video. “This is probably the most critical challenge in unlocking hypersonic flight.”
Darren Orf
Wed, January 25, 2023 at 9:00 AM CST
Air Force’s Hypersonic Aircraft Takes an Epic LeapHermeus
- Hypersonic flight (speeds faster than Mach 5) is the perceived future of human aviation.
- In order to achieve that vision, engineers need to develop hybrid engines capable of handling subsonic, supersonic, and hypersonic speeds.
- Aviation company Hermeus successfully demonstrated mode transition between turbojet and ramjet engines for the Air Force’s Quarterhorse hypersonic aircraft, a major hypersonic flight milestone.
Capable of flying in excess of Mach 3.2 (around 2,200 mph), the SR-71 has been the pinnacle of aviation speed for nearly half a century, but the Atlanta-based aviation company Hermeus thinks it’s time for a little competition. The company’s vision of hypersonic flight (meaning speeds faster than Mach 5) isn’t one reserved for clandestine spy missions, however. That’s because Hermeus wants to bring hypersonic airliners to an airport near you.
In 2021, the Air Force awarded Hermeus a $60 million contract to develop three uncrewed concept aircraft, including the hypersonic “Quarterhorse.” Late last year, Hermeus passed a major milestone by successfully firing a turbojet-ramjet hybrid engine, known as “Chimera.”
The air-breathing monster behind the powerful SR-71 is a Pratt & Whitney J58 turbojet engine, which maxes out at speeds around Mach 3. In Hermeus’s hypersonic design, a ramjet, which can only operate at high speeds as it uses this air to pressurize air and fuel in the combustion chamber, kicks in and carries the theoretical Quarterhorse aircraft to Mach 5 and beyond. For any plane hoping to dethrone the Blackbird, its engine needs to somehow seamlessly transition between turbojet, ramjet, and back to turbojet—and Hermeus has already pulled off that delicate piece of aviation engineering.
“We just demonstrated a mode transition, which means we went from turbojet mode to ramjet mode,” Hermeus co-founder and CTO Glenn Case said in a recent video. “This is probably the most critical challenge in unlocking hypersonic flight.”
