Global
The Advanced Defense Research Projects Agency (DARPA) at the Pentagon announced the launch of a new "request for information" to develop a "next-generation hypersonic cruise missile." This weapon is designed to fly at speeds exceeding five times the speed of sound. This request for information does not represent a binding contract or guarantee financial entitlements. Instead, it's a governmental procedure to gather ideas and proposals from private companies, universities, and government laboratories before launching a full development competition. In this context, DARPA affirmed that responses will determine the technical requirements and acquisition strategy for a program that may become a real project. The American agency explicitly encourages cooperation between traditional defense giants, like Lockheed Martin and Raytheon, and smaller companies not typically involved in Pentagon weapons contracts. DARPA's desire to develop a new hypersonic missile stems from the continuous progress of "rival nations in developing integrated, advanced air defense systems, radar networks, missile batteries, and fighter jets designed to detect and intercept incoming weapons before they reach their targets," according to agency statements. These defenses have evolved to threaten the effectiveness of current American long-range strike weapons, missiles that allow bombers and fighters to strike targets from a safe distance, without flying directly over them. DARPA's phrasing indicates that current hypersonic missile concepts, even proven ones, offer minor and incremental improvements, not the qualitative leap needed to maintain superiority in a future conflict against a well-fortified adversary. This is not DARPA's first attempt to develop this weapon type; the new program directly builds on lessons from previous experience. The agency spent years developing and testing a ramjet-powered hypersonic missile as part of its HAWC air-breathing hypersonic weapons concept. DARPA worked on developing and testing a scramjet-powered hypersonic missile, a type that compresses incoming air at supersonic speeds to ignite fuel without moving parts. This design allows the missile to maintain very high speeds with a simple, lightweight engine. In January 2023, the final HAWC project test occurred, with a Lockheed Martin-built missile flying at speeds exceeding Mach 5, at an altitude of 18,300 meters, covering over 350 nautical miles. The "Mach" scale is a unit for measuring the speed of supersonic objects, such as jet aircraft, and is equivalent to 1062.17 kilometers per hour. Despite this progress, Air Force efforts to transition HAWC technology into a field weapon faced difficulties, after repeated delays in launching the Raytheon-built Hypersonic Attack Cruise Missile (HACM). Last July, the Government Accountability Office confirmed that the program's flight testing phase, already reduced from seven to five tests to save money, remains susceptible to further delays. HACM's initial operational capability, the point at which the Air Force can actually use the weapon, has been postponed to fiscal year 2029, an 18-month increase from previous plans. Its total development cost surged to nearly $2 billion, significantly exceeding original estimates. These difficulties explain the Air Force's move to revive an older, previously suspended hypersonic weapon called ARRW, as a backup plan if HACM continues to falter. They also highlight DARPA's insistence that the new program cannot simply replicate the same evolutionary design approach. This insistence is clearly evident in the recent request for information's clauses, specifically DARPA's "Design for Manufacturability and Assembly" requirement. This engineering philosophy means designing the weapon from the outset for low-cost, high-speed, large-scale manufacturing, rather than developing an expensive prototype and then later considering mass production. DARPA is asking manufacturers to explore radically different vehicle sizes and launch methods, from small missiles fitting a fighter jet's weapon bay to larger versions launched from bombers, ships, or ground platforms. It also calls for new propulsion technologies, heat-resistant materials, and testing methods that cut years from the conventional hypersonic weapons development timeline. DARPA plans to hold an in-person industry day in Arlington, Virginia, in September, where it will share technical details and provide guidance to interested companies.
