Artist rendering of Raytheon's Hypersonic Attack Cruise Missile. (Photo: Raytheon)
Following joint selection by the USAF to design and develop a scramjet propulsion-based Hypersonic Attack Cruise Missile (HACM) prototype, Raytheon and Northrop Grumman plan on making the weapon capable of sustaining 'overmatch' against peer competitors such as China.
The two manufacturers received funding worth $985 million for the prototyping effort on 22 September and are expected to deliver a missile offering 'operational utility' by FY2027, according to the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center.
The new 54-month contract followed the USAF providing Raytheon, Lockheed Martin and Boeing with separate 15-month Southern Cross Integrated Flight Research Experiment (SCIFiRE) preliminary design long-range hypersonic cruise missile contracts.
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