Overview
- Hermeus said its uncrewed Quarterhorse Mk 2.1 exceeded the speed of sound, reaching Mach 1.21 during its third test flight over White Sands Missile Range on Tuesday.
- The Defense Innovation Unit added $159 million to Hermeus’s contract, bringing the ceiling to $219 million to fund flight campaigns and work to carry and release payloads through 2027.
- Hermeus is following a rapid build‑test‑learn plan and is already developing Mk 2.2 with Mk 2.3 planned, with public goals of reaching Mach 2 later this year and Mach 3 in the first half of 2027 as part of an incremental roadmap.
- Mk 2.1 used a modified Pratt & Whitney F100 afterburning turbofan for the supersonic run while later variants are intended to integrate the company’s Chimera turbine‑based combined‑cycle engine to reach sustained higher‑Mach and hypersonic regimes.
- U.S. military leaders and venture investors have boosted the program because of its potential to deliver fast, lower‑cost uncrewed strike or sensor platforms, but major technical and production challenges remain for payload release at high speed and for mass manufacture and sustainment.