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Kratos divisions join US hypersonic Mayhem programme

13th January 2023 - 15:00 GMT | by Shephard News Team in London

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Air-breathing hypersonic systems use scramjet engines to generate thrust, propelling the vehicle across long distances at speeds greater than Mach 5. (Photo: AFRL/Leidos)

Kratos and Leidos will be part of the System Design Agent team for the Mayhem programme that will oversee designs, prototypes and tests of an air-breathing hypersonic weapon system for the US Air Force.

Leidos has awarded Kratos's Defense and Rocket Systems Services and Unmanned Systems divisions a contract to support the Expendable Hypersonic Multi-Mission ISR and Strike Programme, named Mayhem, the companies announced on 10 January.

The contract award will support the Air Force Research Laboratory’s (AFRL's) development of an air-breathing hypersonic weapon system over its initial 51-month period of performance.

The initial task order will conduct the System Requirements Review (SRR) and Conceptual Design Review (CoDR) in a Digital Engineering (DE) environment.

Kratos is a member of the Leidos team recently selected by the AFRL to develop an air-breathing hypersonic system.

The partners will serve as members of the System Design Agent (SDA) team for the Mayhem programme, which also includes Calspan and Draper.

The SDA’s goal is to design a system that allows rapid relevant technology insertions using the expertise and capabilities of a variety of industry partners.

The SDA will oversee designs, prototypes, and tests to ultimately produce and deliver a technical data package for high-performance hypersonic weapon systems.

Air-breathing hypersonic systems use scramjet engines to generate thrust, propelling vehicles across long distances at speeds greater than Mach 5.

The SDA team will design and develop a large-class version that surpasses current air-breathing systems in both range and payload capacity.

SDA is also responsible for delivering a hypersonic system design to include an airframe, propulsion system, booster, avionics, and vehicle subsystems.