Air Force leaders managing HACM informed the Government Accountability Office that the program’s first design review was held in September 2024—nearly six months later than scheduled—because the team needed more time to finalize the missile’s hardware layout. Due to this delay, the service will now have time for only five HACM flight tests before accelerated deployment begins in fiscal year 2027.
Raytheon, a subsidiary of RTX, leads the HACM effort, which uses an air-breathing scramjet design. This missile is one of two major Air Force projects aimed at developing hypersonic systems capable of accelerating to speeds exceeding Mach 5 during mid-flight. Northrop Grumman supports the program as a subcontractor, responsible for manufacturing the scramjet engine.
The Air Force has moved forward with the HACM program despite delays in design reviews.
In 2022, the Air Force awarded Raytheon a $985 million Mid-Tier Acquisition (MTA) contract, a path designed to upgrade systems through rapid prototyping within five years. A year later, in 2023, the company received an additional $407 million to expand the HACM’s capabilities, bringing the contract value to approximately $1.4 billion.
When asked about the HACM’s progress, an Air Force spokesperson declined to provide details, citing “enhanced program safeguards.” Raytheon also did not respond to DefenseScoop’s request for information. During a recent House Armed Services Committee hearing, Air Force Chief of Staff General David Allvin said, “We are working on two separate programs. One is a larger, strategic long-range option that we’ve already tested several times—the ARRW. The other is the HACM.”
Although both ARRW and HACM are considered hypersonic weapons, they rely on different propulsion systems that shape their use cases. ARRW operates as a rocket-powered boost-glide system, requiring larger carriers like the B-52 Stratofortress bomber. In contrast, HACM is a smaller cruise missile with a scramjet engine that can be launched from more tactical aircraft like fighters.
According to the GAO report, “The program office stated that global competition and the urgent threat environment have prompted the Air Force to transform HACM from a prototype demonstration program to a program designed to deliver an operational capability by fiscal year 2027.” Officials stated that the program now prioritizes meeting deadlines and moving quickly toward deploying a minimum viable product that meets user performance requirements within that timeframe.
Recommended to Read: Hypersonic Air-Breathing Offensive System (HAOS)
USAF’s Hypersonic Campaign Under EWAAC
The Eglin-Wide Agile Acquisition Contract (EWAAC) manages these funds. This funding framework allocates $46 billion to the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center at Eglin Air Force Base over a ten-year period ending in September 2031.
The term “hypersonic” defines airborne systems—including missiles, aircraft, spacecraft, and rockets—that fly through the atmosphere at speeds exceeding Mach 5, approximately 4,000 mph (6,437 km/h). A true hypersonic capability also includes the ability to maneuver while maintaining such extreme velocities.
Scramjet Capability
Rivalry among major powers has renewed heavy investment in hypersonic weapons research, driven by their potential role in deterrence and high-altitude combat operations.
HACM is emerging as a major hypersonic program, enabling the USAF to achieve a true “hypersonic” capability. This is a step beyond the early developmental stage seen in current systems such as Russia’s Zircon missile.
US-Australia Hypersonic Cooperation and Progress
The United States and Australia have been working together on hypersonic weapons technology since 2007, although many may not realize it. Before China’s DF-17 boost-glide weapon tests in 2014, the general belief was that “hypersonics are always the weapons of the future.” At that time, the Hypersonic International Flight Research Experiment (HIFiRE) program conducted by both countries was largely considered an academic exercise.
Developers are working on two main types of hypersonic systems: glide vehicles and cruise missiles. Hypersonic glide vehicles (HGVs) are launched into space on rockets, then use aerodynamic lift to increase their speed and extend their range. Cruise missiles use scramjet engines—the only air-breathing propulsion system capable of operating at such high speeds. These vehicles fly independently and travel at altitudes of up to 30 kilometers, significantly lower than ballistic missiles, making them difficult to detect and unpredictable to detect.
Testing requires massive vehicles accelerated to hypersonic velocity by powerful boosters. They must endure launch stresses and then completely separate before generating usable flight data. Several projects have lost vehicles during this initial booster phase.
To reduce risk, the US built its first operational hypersonic weapon with a Common Hypersonic Glide Body (C-HGB) powered by a two-stage solid rocket booster. The Army calls this system the Long-Range Hypersonic Weapon (LRHW), while the Navy uses it as a conventional rapid attack weapon.
In its 2025 budget, the US Air Force discontinued funding the ARRW program but continued investing in the scramjet-powered Hypersonic Attack Cruise Missile (HACM). Raytheon is leading the HACM project, while Northrop Grumman is developing the scramjet engine, which accounts for most of the missile’s size and complexity.
Scramjet-powered vehicles offer better efficiency than glide systems, allowing for smaller designs with similar warhead capacity and reach. However, they present far greater engineering challenges. The air passing through the engine is hot, compressed, and chemically unstable, and the scramjet will not ignite below Mach 4.
Scramjets generate almost as much drag as they generate thrust, so designers must balance the two perfectly or risk losing net propulsion. To gather reliable data, engineers need to conduct testing at full scale and at operational flight speeds.
Ongoing Hypersonic Research Programs
The Pentagon is working on four major hypersonic development efforts: the Navy’s Conventional Prompt Strike (CPS) and Offensive Anti-Surface Warfare Increment 2 (OASuW Inc 2), also known as Hypersonic Air-Launched OASuW (HALO); the Army’s Long-Range Hypersonic Weapon (LRHW); and the Air Force’s Hypersonic Attack Cruise Missile (HACM). Additional hypersonic projects are likely to exist in classified research.
The Navy’s Conventional Prompt Strike (CPS) is the Pentagon’s most prominent hypersonic initiative. CPS is a boost-glide missile program designed to deliver long-range precision strikes in a short flight time while maintaining strong survivability against advanced air defense systems.
Conventional Prompt Strike (CPS)
Lockheed Martin is leading the CPS program, which includes a two-stage solid-fuel rocket, a hypersonic glide vehicle, and a kinetic-energy warhead. Pentagon officials plan to deploy CPS weapons from Zumwalt-class destroyers and Virginia-class submarines, giving the fleet the ability to target high-value mobile assets. The first CPS deployment on Virginia-class submarines could occur as early as 2028.
Zumwalt-class destroyers will rely on an advanced payload module to fire hypersonic weapons, while the Virginia payload module will provide a similar capability for Virginia-class submarines.
The Navy’s three Zumwalt-class destroyers—USS Zumwalt (DDG 1000), USS Michael Monsoor (DDG 1001), and USS Lyndon B. Johnson (DDG 1002)—are stealthy, multi-role ships equipped with powerful computing and networking systems. Their primary mission is ground attack, while they also support surface warfare, air defense, and naval gunfire operations.
The Air Force developed the AGM-183 ARRW using Tactical Boost Glide (TBG) technology, first developed by DARPA in Arlington, Virginia. The prototype completed its first flight test in June 2019, followed by three unsuccessful attempts before a successful test in 2022. The service conducted its final ARRW test in March 2024 and then shifted resources to the HACM. The Air Force eliminated funding for the ARRW from the 2025 budget, resulting in the project’s closure.
Meanwhile, NASA’s Glenn Research Centre in Cleveland awarded $5.1 million contracts to Boeing and Northrop Grumman for the High-Speed Endo atmospheric Commercial Vehicle Design and Roadmap project to assist in the development of future hypersonic technology.
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