Hypersonic Attack Cruise Missile

The Hypersonic Attack Cruise Missile (HACM) is a scramjet-powered hypersonic air-launched cruise missile project, the successor of the Hypersonic Air-breathing Weapon Concept (HAWC) and the SCIFiRE hypersonic programs.

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.

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

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

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." 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. 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, followed by a proposed $517 million in FY 2025.

See also

• Hypersonic Air Launched Offensive Anti-Surface
• 3M22 Zircon

References