Boeing will develop and test technologies for a prototype hypersonic interceptor for DARPA's Glide Breaker program as part of a four-year effort. Boeing will perform computational fluid dynamics analysis, wind tunnel testing and evaluation of the effects of the jet's aerodynamic interaction during flight tests.
“Hypersonic vehicles are among the most dangerous and rapidly evolving threats facing national security,” said Gil Griffin, executive director of Boeing Phantom Works Advanced Weapons. “We are focusing on the technological expertise needed to further develop our nation’s anti-hypersonic capabilities and to defend ourselves against future threats.”
The Glide Breaker is intended to inform the design and development of future hypersonic interceptors, which could destroy a threat traveling at least five times the speed of sound in the upper atmosphere during what is known as the “gliding phase” of flight. Boeing-led development and testing will provide the foundation for future operational interceptors in the glide phase capable of defending against these sophisticated and evolving hypersonic threats.
“This phase of the Glide Breaker program will determine how factors such as hypersonic airflow and the firing of jet thrusters to guide the vehicle affect system performance at extreme speeds and altitudes in a representative digital environment,” Griffin said. “We are operating at the forefront of what is possible in of intercepting an extremely fast object in an incredibly dynamic environment.”
