The Hypersonics Flight Demonstration program, or HyFly, has had two flight tests to date in addition to extensive ground exercises, says DARPA’s Stephen Welby. While these activities have provided an extensive collection of data on the performance of the hypersonic strike missile demonstrator, the flight portions “were not as successful as we had hoped,” he told the Precision Strike Association on Jan. 23 (see above). “We didn’t achieve the desired goals of the flight test plan, but there is a lot more ahead for the program.” HyFly, a joint effort with the Navy, seeks to demonstrate an engine that can sustain cruise in the Mach 4.5 to Mach 7 regime. This would power an expendable weapon used to strike targets from far distances on short notice.
There is a new entrant in the highly competitive field of collaborative combat aircraft—semi-autonomous drones meant to fly alongside manned combat aircraft. Northrop Grumman unveiled its new Project Talon aircraft to a small group of reporters at the facilities of its subsidiary Scaled Composites.
