“DARPA’s Hypersonic Air-breathing Weapon Concept (HAWC), a missile program conducted in partnership with the US Air Force, completed another successful free flight in early July. This is the second demonstration vehicle built by Raytheon Technologies to meet test objectives,” the statement said.
The flight leveraged data collected during the first flight, which took place in last September, the statement said.
“After release from an aircraft, the first stage boosted the vehicle to the expected scramjet ignition envelope. From there the missile’s Northrop Grumman scramjet engine fired up and propelled the cruiser to speeds greater than Mach 5 (five times the speed of sound) for more than 300 nautical miles and reaching altitudes higher than 60,000 feet,” the statement said.
HAWC program manager in DARPA's Tactical Technology Office Andrew Knoedler said the test allowed for the exploration of more of the flight and scramjet engine operating envelopes.
“The Navy and Air Force will have access to the data we’ve collected as they make development decisions for future high-speed weapons,” Knoedler added.
Raytheon Technologies noted in a separate statement that the test met all primary and secondary objectives, including demonstrating tactical range capabilities.
"The test demonstrated how we've rapidly matured affordable scramjet technology, which is the basis for air-breathing weapons," the statement said.