USAF awards contract to Hermeus

In an effort to accelerate the commercial development of hypersonic aircraft and propulsion systems, the US Air Force is investing in the Hermeus Corporation – a US based aerospace company – via a $60 million jointly funded contract that was awarded recently. Currently, the company is developing a hypersonic aircraft capable of flying at five times the speed of sound. At this speed a flight from New York to Paris would only take 90 minutes, compared to the seven and a half hours it typically takes today. The contract is being funded by the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center’s Presidential and Executive Airlift Directorate, the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), and various venture capital sources.