GA-EMS contracted for hypersonic weapons work

General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems (GA-EMS) has been awarded a contract by the US Army’s Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office to further the development of the Common-Hypersonic Glide Body(C-HGB) and flight test vehicle.

This will support the army’s Long-Range Hypersonic Weapon and the US Navy’s Intermediate Range Conventional Prompt Strike (IRCPS) programmes, and follows previously contracted work that was performed by GA-EMS for the US Army Space and Missile Defense Command for the Advanced Hypersonic Weapon – Technology Demonstration programme.

‘As new threats continue to emerge, advancing the development and flight testing of hypersonic vehicle prototypes has become an urgent priority,’ Scott Forney, president of GA-EMS, said. 

‘Over the past 13 years, we have worked closely with the army and Sandia National Laboratories to design, manufacture and test hypersonic glide body components and technologies. We look forward to leveraging that expertise as this critical capability transitions out of the lab and into a production-ready asset to support the warfighter.’

GA-EMS will provide manufacturing, production, engineering and technical support to integrate, test, and evaluate CHGB and flight test vehicles through system and subsystem-level ground and flight test activities. 

The contract will include the manufacture of components, test and integration of vehicle flight components and assemblies, flight test planning and execution, and simulation, validation and verification support.