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Hypersonic Attack Cruise Missile

Australian-American air-launched hypersonic cruise missile From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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The Hypersonic Attack Cruise Missile (HACM; pronounced Hack-em[10]) is an Australian-American scramjet-powered hypersonic air-launched cruise missile project, the successor of the Hypersonic Air-breathing Weapon Concept (HAWC) and the SCIFiRE hypersonic programs.[11]

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Technology developed for the HAWC demonstrator was used to influence the design of the HACM, a U.S. Air Force Program of Record to create a scramjet-powered hypersonic missile it could deploy as an operational weapon.[12]

In December 2021, Raytheon Technologies was awarded a $985 million contract to continue its HACM development.[13]

The contract to develop HACM further was awarded to Raytheon in September 2022.[14] HACM will use a Northrop Grumman scramjet.[15][16] It is designed to be smaller than the AGM-183 ARRW and able to fly along “vastly different trajectories” than the boost-glide ARRW. [17]

The system will give the US military "tactical flexibility to employ fighters to hold high-value, time-sensitive targets at risk, while maintaining bombers for other strategic targets."[5][18][19][20] Following the U.S. Air Force's decision to not pursue procurement of ARRW in March 2023, the HACM became the service's only hypersonic weapon program.[21] Though the USAF confirmed that they would not be purchasing any hypersonic weapons in FY 2024, the budget request for the upcoming fiscal year includes $380 million for R&D on the HACM,[13] followed by a proposed $517 million in FY 2025.[17] The United States hopes to have the missile in operational capacity by FY 2027.[22]

The United States Air Force has stated that Australian testing facilities will be used for testing of HACM.[23][24]

In Australian service, the projectile will become the fastest missile Australia has ever operated, and the first hypersonic missile.[citation needed]

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Future Operators

 United States

In future American service, it has been indicated that the F-15E Strike Eagle will be the sole carrier of the missile.[15]

 Australia

Australia has indicated that their allocation of the future missiles will first be deployed on the F/A-18F Super Hornets, followed by usage on the EA-18G Growler, F-35A Lightning II and the P-8A Poseidon.[25]

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See also

References

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