Future Of Mayhem Hypersonic Strike-Recon Aircraft Program Murky
The Mayhem program’s fate is uncertain, but its work, including on advanced high-speed engines, could find its way into other projects.
BY
HOWARD ALTMAN, JOSEPH TREVITHICK
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PUBLISHED FEB 16, 2024 8:14 PM EST
The Air Force says a funding issue may cause a significant delay in its secretive Mayhem hypersonic strike-recon aircraft program and that the overall "operational pull" behind the effort is uncertain.
The future of the U.S. Air Force's secretive Mayhem program is uncertain amid a funding issue that could at least lead to a major delay. Mayhem's stated focus has been on demonstrating an air-launched hypersonic air vehicle capable of performing strike and intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance missions, but the apparent demand for this capability within the service at all is now unclear. There could still be interest going forward in certain components of the project, including research and development work on advanced high-speed jet engines.
The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) awarded a contract with a $334 million ceiling for work on Mayhem, including "delivering a larger class air-breathing hypersonic system," to Leidos back in 2022. At that time, the company announced that Calspan, the Draper Laboratory, and Kratos Defense & Security Solutions. were also part of its team to design the Mayhem air vehicle, which it said would be powered by a scramjet engine. The first details about this project emerged publicly in 2020 and The War Zone has been following it closely since then.
The "Mayhem program will complete the first task order, this year, on the current contract at the conclusion of the Conceptual Design Review/System Requirements Review [CoDR/SRR]," AFRL spokesman Bryan Ripple told The War Zone earlier this week.
https://www.twz.com/news-features/future-of-mayhem-hypersonic-strike-recon-aircraft-program-murky
