Hypersonic Hermeus Quarterhorse Jet US Air Force
Commercial supersonic aircraft will be here within this decade, but what comes after? Hypersonic aircraft of course, and one of them will be the Hermeus Quarterhorse. The company just secured a $60-million US Air Force partnership that will be used to develop its proprietary turbine-based combined cycle (TBCC) engine, based around the GE J85 turbojet. This will be the first in a line of autonomous high-speed aircraft.



When launched, Hermeus is set to become the fastest reusable aircraft in the world and the first of its kind to fly a TBCC engine. It’s designed to handle long haul international trips, with a projected top speed of Mach 5.5 (4,219 mph), enabling one to travel from New York to London in a mere 1.5-hours. The TBCC engine achieves this by first using a standard jet engine for launch / landing as well as building speed in flight to feed air into a second scramjet turbine that produces more power.

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Hypersonic Hermeus Quarterhorse Jet US Air Force
Hypersonic Hermeus Quarterhorse Jet US Air Force
Hypersonic Hermeus Quarterhorse Jet US Air Force

Small business partnership is recognized by the U.S. Air Force as an important component to driving innovation. Reducing risk in high speed transport technologies, as we are doing with this contract, provides near-term and long-term benefits to both the U.S. Air Force and the defense industrial base. We are very excited to see Hermeus translate their demonstrated successes in engine prototyping into flight systems,” said Lt. Col. Joshua Burger, the Vector Initiative program manager.

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