Quarterhorse hypersonic unmanned aircraft prototype makes first flight at Edwards
Atlanta-based startup Hermeus has completed the first flight of the Quarterhorse Mk 1, a remotely piloted prototype that is part of the hypersonic aircraft program.
The aircraft, registration N60304, took off from the dry lake at Edwards AFB in California for a short flight.
The company praised the speed with which the aircraft was built in just over a year and is equipped with a GE J85 turbojet, the same engine that powers the F-5 fighters and the T-38 Talon trainer of the USAF.
“Mk 1 has redefined the pace of developing and flying new aircraft,” said Hermeus CEO and Co-Founder, AJ Piplica. “I’m incredibly proud of what our team has accomplished. We’ve proven the viability of our iterative development approach. But this is just the start. We have much more to do as the bar rises for the next iteration.”
The Mk 1 was designed to evaluate the design, systems and performance of high-speed takeoff and landing, but Hermeus is already manufacturing the Mk 2, an unmanned prototype that will fly at the end of the year and test high-speed supersonic flight.
The project will culminate in the Mk 3, an aircraft that aims to be the fastest in the world. Thanks to the Chimera engine, it will transition from turbojet to ramjet mode to break the speed record of the SR-71 spy plane, Hermeus promises.
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Hermeus is also developing two other high-speed aircraft, the Darkhorse unmanned hyperjet, for military missions, and the Halcyon airliner, which aims to fly passengers at Mach 5.
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