Air Force Research Lab Advances "First-of-its-Kind" Armed Hypersonic Attack Drone
The new hypersonic vehicle, called Mayhem, will perform surveillance and "strike" missions
KRIS OSBORN, WARRIOR MAVEN - CENTER FOR MILITARY MODERNIZATIONJAN 10, 2023
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By Kris Osborn, President, Center for Military Modernization
(Washington D.C.) The Air Force Research Laboratory is in the early stages of developing a breakthrough-level hypersonic drone, something it appears the world has not yet seen. Hypersonic missiles are certainly here and already firing, and there has been a long-standing, multi-year scientific effort to evolve hypersonic technologies into new dimensions of possibility.
Hypersonic Drone
The weapon, called Mayhem, is an air-breathing hypersonic weapon system, is largely in the conceptual stages, however officials with the AFRL say some initial subsystem hardware work is underway. The AFRL is very clear that most details, if even conceptual, are not discussable for understandable security reasons, they do say the platform will be a “Multi-mission ISR/Strike” vehicle which will travel at hypersonic speeds above Mach 5. In a simple tactical sense, this mission scope means the hypersonic vehicle will travel with some kind of sensor payload able to gather information and targeting detail and also, it appears, be capable of launching offensive strikes.
The full name of the program is referred to as Expendable Hypersonic Multi-Mission ISR and Strike Program, and the effort is now moving into a System Requirements Review and Conceptual Design Review in a digital engineering kind of environment.
Video Above: Air War in 2050 - Air Force Research Lab Commander on Hypersonics
https://warriormaven.com/air/hypersonic-attack-drone-mayhem-air-force-research-lab
