Hermeus and Northrop Grumman team up to field high-speed military drones

Aviation startup Hermeus and defense contractor Northrop Grumman announced a partnership to develop operational uncrewed aircraft that can fly at high-supersonic speeds for the U.S. military. Under the deal, Northrop Grumman will build mission systems into Hermeus' next-generation drones.

According to a Hermeus press release cited by TWZ, Northrop Grumman will handle design, development, integration and sustainment of mission systems for reusable, unmanned high-Mach platforms. The work covers sensing, communications, navigation, and command and control. TWZ reported that the package also includes electronic warfare systems and autonomy software.

In a separate release, Northrop Grumman argued that the Department of War requires autonomous systems to reach the field within months, not years. The company said it would combine its own electronic warfare, communication, sensing and autonomy expertise with Hermeus' Quarterhorse aircraft.

“We’re building a new class of aircraft that gives the warfighter improved speed, range, and flexibility while integrating into the existing Force.”

Zach Shore, CEO of Hermeus

Shore said in a statement that Northrop Grumman's mission systems would expand what the aircraft can do in real-world scenarios and help the company field operational capability faster.

Open architecture and test progress

Interesting Engineering reported that Hermeus uses an internally developed mission management system with an open, modular design that separates flight-critical functions from mission-critical ones. Hermeus says this lets engineers add new capabilities within weeks instead of years.

Hermeus, founded in 2018, has flown a series of uncrewed Quarterhorse demonstrators. TWZ reported that the delta-winged Quarterhorse Mk 2.1 broke the sound barrier in May, and Interesting Engineering said it reached Mach 1.21 on its third test flight over White Sands Missile Range airspace. The company is now working on the Mk 2.2, which TWZ said it hopes to push beyond Mach 2.

Hermeus' Quarterhorse Mk 2.1 demonstrator. Photo: TWZ

TWZ said Quarterhorse development has been supported partly by contracts from the U.S. Air Force and the Pentagon's Defense Innovation Unit. Hermeus' stated end goal is a hypersonic design, typically defined as flight above Mach 5.

Open questions

TWZ noted that neither press release says which operational missions future Hermeus drones might perform, and it is unclear which branches of the U.S. military might fly them. The outlet said it had asked for more information.

TWZ also said considerable work remains before any Quarterhorse version or later Hermeus design becomes an operational platform. It described the partnership as an explicit step toward that goal.