A team of Raytheon Technologies (NYSE: RTX) and Northrop Grumman (NYSE: NOC) has won a five-year, $985.3 million contract to build and demonstrate an air-launched, scramjet-powered weapon system designed to operate at a speed greater than Mach 5.
The service branch is obligating $100 million for the Hypersonic Attack Cruise Missile procurement effort at the time of award, the Department of Defense said Thursday.
USAF initially awarded separate 15-month contracts to Raytheon, Boeing (NYSE: BA) and Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) in June 2021 to design “air-breathing” hypersonic missiles for the Southern Cross Integrated Flight Research Experiment, the branch’s multiyear, bilateral project with the Australian government.
The Raytheon-Northrop partnership will further develop the team’s SCIFiRE prototype for integration with fighter aircraft and will deliver a pair of leave-behind assets to the service with operational utility.
Contract work covers weapon system design, development and initial delivery services, according to the DOD’s award notice. The program will have critical design review, qualification, integration, production and testing phases.
Air Force officials eye an operationally ready HACM by fiscal year 2027.
