First Flight For Quarterhorse Prototype That Aims To Lead To A Reusable Hypersonic Jet

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First Flight For Quarterhorse Prototype That Aims To Lead To A Reusable Hypersonic Jet

Aviation startup Hermeus has completed the first flight of its uncrewed Quarterhorse Mk 1, as part of its

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. Hermeus aims to eventually build an uncrewed flight vehicle capable of beating the

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’s absolute speed

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for an air-breathing crewed aircraft — 2,193.2 miles per hour, achieved in 1976 — and then to explore the hypersonic realm, which is defined as anything over Mach 5. These objectives are still a long way off, however, and it appears that Quarterhorse Mk 1 won’t explore supersonic flight.

Quarterhorse Mk 1 taxies at Edwards AFB. Hermeus Hermeus

Announced today, the Quarterhorse Mk 1 first took to the air last week at Edwards Air Force Base, California, when it “achieved stable flight and landed smoothly,” according to the company. A video

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by Hermeus appears to show a takeoff and then a brief ******* in the air, followed by it setting down shortly after on the Edwards lakebed.

“Mk 1’s flight validated our rapid, iterative approach to airplane development and advanced our mission to radically accelerate aviation,” Hermeus added. Among the byproducts of this approach is the relatively ‘rough’ external finish of the Mk 1 aircraft.

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Quarterhorse Mk 1 on the lakebed at Edwards AFB. Hermeus James Reeder

A first flight for the Mk 1 flying prototype had been planned for some time toward the end of 2024. It’s unclear why this timeline slipped.

The Mk 1 was preceded by a ‘dynamic

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’ test rig, also known as Quarterhorse Mk 0, which you can read more about here. This non-flying prototype was used to validate major aircraft subsystems, including in taxi runs at the Air Force’s

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(AEDC) in Tullahoma, Tennessee.

A video showing the Quarterhorse Mk 0 test rig:

Throughout the project, Hermeus has stressed rapid, iterative development and prototyping. The non-flying Quarterhorse Mk 0 was built in just six months, and all its test objectives were completed in 37 days of testing.

Now, with the Mk 1, Hermeus says it went “from clean sheet to flight-ready” in a little over a year.

As part of this effort, the company is building four Quarterhorse aircraft of successively greater complexity and scope.

The Mk 1 aircraft flown last week was built to verify takeoff and landing of an uncrewed aircraft in this configuration, and is not apparently planned to trial high-speed flight. It is powered by a General Electric

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, as used in the Air Force’s

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jet trainer, for example.

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Quarterhorse Mk 1 is towed out at Edwards AFB. Hermeus

Other aspects of the flight-test program for the Quarterhorse Mk 1 are examining aerodynamics, stability, and control. Testing of the Mk 1 is also intended to validate various subsystems, including propulsion, fuel systems, hydraulics, power, thermal management, avionics, flight software, telemetry, flight termination, and command and control.

The Mk 1 will be followed by the Quarterhorse Mk 2, intended to reach supersonic speeds below Mach 3. Currently, the Mk 2, which will be around the same size as an F-16, is in production at Hermeus’ headquarters in Atlanta. The company says it should fly before the end of this year. This will be powered by a Pratt & Whitney F100 turbofan engine, also used in the F-16.

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Quarterhorse Mk 2 build in progress at Hermeus’ Atlanta HQ. Hermeus

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Rendering of the Quarterhorse Mk 2. Hermeus

Finally, Quarterhorse Mk 3 will hit speeds beyond Mach 3 and, as Hermeus states, “demonstrate turbojet-to-ramjet mode transition in flight and break the all-time airspeed record held by the SR-71.”

Notably, the Mk 1 that is now embarking on the flight-test program is not the same vehicle as the “prototype” that Hermeus rolled out in November 2021, as The War Zone

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. This vehicle lacked any obvious flight control surfaces or landing gear, but did feature a functioning engine with afterburner, as seen in the video embedded

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.

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The Hermeus Quarterhorse ‘prototype’ lights its afterburner during the rollout in November 2021. Hermeus

At the heart of the Quarterhorse series will be a so-called

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(TBCC) engine. This combines a ramjet or scramjet — optimized for very high speeds — with a more traditional jet turbine, which can be used for takeoff, landing, and other lower-speed portions of flight.

You can read more about the specific advantages of a TBCC powerplant in

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previous story.

As with any high-speed aircraft program, especially one that aims to eventually explore the hypersonic realm, the challenges are great and the potential for failure is high.

However, if all goes to plan, Hermeus’ Quarterhorse series could feed into the Air Force’s

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to explore potential future hypersonic and

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.

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A concept for a future hypersonic transport aircraft from Hermeus. Hermeus

Beyond that, some of the

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that Hermeus is working on could be used in

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by the U.S. military.

In particular, Hermeus has pointed to the potential for its technologies to be used for missions including the transport of time-critical cargo and reconnaissance. For these applications, the company proposes what it describes as a “mid-size autonomous aircraft.”

In the past, the U.S. military has repeatedly shown interest in finding ways to rapidly

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around the globe, and there have been

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to a potential future

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. More modest proposals could see Hermeus providing

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or even building surrogate hypersonic targets.

Air Force interest in Hermeus’ work has already been formalized. Hermeus received $60 million in funding from the Air Force and venture capital firms to support the Quarterhorse flight test program,

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in 2021.

Hermeus has claimed that its Quarterhorse program is primarily aimed at commercial markets, with the potential of fielding “the fastest reusable aircraft in the world.” While the idea of resurrecting supersonic passenger travel has long been tempting, it’s so far

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and has seen

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.

Whether the Quarterhorse series eventually leads to some kind of ‘son of Concorde’ is highly questionable, but there’s no doubt that the military has expressed interest in at least exploring the potential of very high-speed uncrewed aerial vehicles.

As well as the promise of performance, Hermeus’ approach also reflects Air Force interests in the rapid development of iterative designs, an idea that

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, but which is now widely seen as critical to ensuring capabilities and combat mass, especially when it comes to crewed aircraft, drones, and munitions.

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A rendering of an operational Quarterhorse flying through the air at high speed. Hermeus

Hermeus uses the term “hardware richness” to describe building multiple prototypes in quick succession, which should allow multiple aircraft to complete their full development cycles in a very short time *******. If the company is able to master this, it could provide a way of churning out new (uncrewed) aircraft designs at a “pace not seen in the U.S. since the 1950s.”

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The ‘iterative design and development roadmap’ proposed by Hermeus for the Quarterhorse program. Hermeus

Clearly, there are very many challenges that lie ahead if Hermeus is to succeed in bringing a reusable hypersonic aircraft to the hardware stage, and doing it quickly. In the meantime, we can now look forward to the first flight of the faster and more capable Quarterhorse Mk 2, planned for later this year.

Contact the author: *****@*****.tld

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#Flight #Quarterhorse #Prototype #Aims #Lead #Reusable #Hypersonic #Jet

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