Things are speeding up on the supersonic front, and fast.
High-speed aircraft company Hermeus announced this week that it has successfully completed a flight test of its unmanned Quarterhorse Mk 2.1, which it calls the “world’s first high-Mach remotely piloted aircraft,” less than a year after the first iteration took flight.
Everyone loves a spicy startup moving at supersonic speed—literally.
Fast flight: In case you didn’t know, advanced aircraft typically take, like, a long time to build.
The F-35, for example, took over two decades to enter full production (a full 10 years behind schedule). Hermeus says it’s trying to change that.
- The Atlanta-based company aims to build an aircraft a year and is ramping up to the Mk 2.2, which it says will be “the world’s fastest unmanned aircraft,” the Mk 3, and ultimately the Darkhorse, a multi-mission, defense-focused hypersonic unmanned aircraft.
- The first version of the jet was the Quarterhorse Mk 0, which was used for ground testing and validation of aircraft subsystems.
- Mk 1 followed as the bare-bones, first-flight version, designed to demonstrate remote takeoff and landing. That aircraft flew for the first time last May, going from “clean sheet to flight-ready in a little over a year.”
- Hermeus is also developing a “Chimera” engine, a combo of the F100 and a ramjet, which will propel future Quarterhorse and Darkhorse aircraft to supersonic and hypersonic speeds.
The Mk 2 is a big step up. Powered by a Pratt & Whitney F100 engine, the aircraft is roughly the size of an F-16 and almost “three times larger, four times heavier, and significantly faster than its predecessor,” the company said.
Off to the races: The flight of the Mk 2.1, which took place at Spaceport America in New Mexico last week, keeps Hermeus running at breakneck pace to develop future iterations.
“We’re building and flying aircraft on timelines that match the urgency of the world we’re in,” Hermeus CEO and Founder AJ Piplica said in a statement. “Today’s flight kicks off a critical flight test campaign that will ultimately get us to supersonic speeds, bringing the United States closer to having the high-speed capability it needs now, not decades from now.”
The company didn’t share deets about speed or distance flown, but said pilots controlled the Quarterhorse remotely from a ground-based flight deck, “validating aircraft systems, handling qualities, and operational procedures.”
Hermeus added that the Mk 2.1 will be “followed closely” by the next variant, and judging from how fast the Quarterhorse has been running so far, we’re guessing that could be pretty dang soon.