With hypersonic competition heating up, the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) is preparing to arm its Boeing F/A-18F Super Hornets with the Hypersonic Attack Cruise Missile (HACM) for a series of scheduled tests in Australia.
According to the Department of Defence (DoD) in Canberra, Australia’s contribution to the project may also include the incorporation of HACM all-up rounds (AURs) into the aircraft, Janes reported.
A DoD spokesperson informed Janes: “Through the SCIFiRE agreement, the US and Australia continue to collaborate on HACM design and development, including efforts to integrate HACM on RAAF F/A-18F Super Hornets and using Australian test infrastructure for flight tests.”
The US Government Accountability Office (GAO) released its annual report on major US military programs last month. The report included new information regarding the test plan and other parts of the HACM program. Raytheon and Northrop Grumman have worked together to develop HACM under contract with the Air Force since 2022.
GAO stated that “test range availability and limitations,” which “have been an issue for hypersonic programs” in general, are the primary reason for deploying RAAF Super Hornets to assist in the testing of HACM. According to the watchdog, the flight testing is scheduled to start in October of this year and end in March of 2027.
The Australian Department of Defence (DoD) stated that Australia’s involvement in the project could also involve integrating HACM all-up rounds (AURs) into the aircraft. The HACM is associated with a US-Australian collaboration designed to help Australia develop its own air-launched hypersonic cruise missile capability as part of the joint Southern Cross Integrated Flight Research Experiment (SCIFiRE) initiative.
Australia’s interest in hypersonic weapons is mainly due to “rival” China, which has taken a big lead in this department. Due to their high speeds and unpredictable paths, hypersonic weapons are believed to be extremely maneuverable. They can possibly evade air defense systems, making them nearly invincible.
In 2022, Australia inaugurated a new $9.8 million facility in Brisbane aimed at the research and advancement of hypersonics. This facility would help Australia and other countries “develop and characterize sovereign hypersonic technologies and generate ‘true’ hypersonic flight conditions at large scale in a classified laboratory.”
