This article is published in Aerospace Daily & Defense Report part of Aviation Week Intelligence Network (AWIN), and is complimentary through Jun 10, 2026. For information on becoming an AWIN Member to access more content like this, click here.
Hermeus said May 28 that it received a $159 million contract extension from the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) to support a high-speed, uncrewed testbed aircraft and open a new opportunity for a mass-produced, weaponized version.
The contract extension increases the ceiling value to $219 million for Hermeus’ role in the DIU’s Hypersonic and High-Cadence Airborne Testing Capabilities (HyCAT) initiative. DIU launched the HyCAT program in November 2023, seeking to develop options for high-speed testbed vehicles that could help qualify new weapon system technologies in flight.
During the first 2.5 years of the program, Hermeus focused on maturing components and subsystems of the company’s high-speed vehicles and propulsion system, which envisions producing a Mach 3+ vehicle powered by a propulsion system that integrates a precooler, turbine and ramburner. The latest extension allows Hermeus to move forward into flight testing of a Mach 3+ testbed aircraft in 2027 and 2028, Hermeus Chairman AJ Piplica said in an interview.
“So you're getting this high-Mach capability demonstrated, and more importantly, tied into services’ needs,” Piplica said, noting that the Air Force and Navy are now participating in the DIU program.
“The fact that both the Air Force and the Navy are partnered on this contract now is very significant because it gives a clear demand signal and then a clear path for transition,” Piplica added.
Air Force and Navy officials have not publicly stated a requirement for a high-speed, uncrewed aircraft system, but the concept received an endorsement in a new statement released by DIU Military Deputy Maj. Gen. Joe Kunkel, who formerly directed Force Design on the Air Staff.
“If we can mass-produce this, then it becomes a game-changing warfighting capability, where we use it as a weapon instead of a test platform, and I think we found a significant number of use cases where it can be used as a weapon,” Kunkel said in the statement.
Piplica said the recent contract extension also supports Hermeus' efforts to analyze options for mass-producing the materials and components necessary for a weaaponized, high-speed uncrewed aircraft.
“One of the things that we're really pursuing as we get into, especially the higher-speed, high-temperature aircraft are the manufacturing processes behind them, and how we manage the supply chain, being able to produce these aircraft in the realm of 10s of millions of dollars versus north of $100 million or so for a fighter-class system,” Piplica said.
Related Content
