- What the $60 million deal entails
- The name and speed of this supersonic aircraft
- What kind of engine will power the Quarterhorse
Hermeus, an Aerospace startup has signed a contract with the US Air Force to develop a hypersonic business jet for the president to travel by. This $60 million contract partnership gives Hermeus the ability to test flight its Quarterhorse small-sized jet as early as next year as it is almost done with production. The Quarterhorse will be used to validate the use of Hermeus’s turbine-based combined cycle (TBBC) engine that is capable of hitting speeds of Mach 3 and Mach 5. Once the Quarterhorse is tested, Hermeus will be producing a midsize aircraft thats main purpose will be to transport cargo around 2025. This cargo aircraft will have a longer range and more capable environmental control.
The Quarterhorse will be powered by a General Electric J85 engine, the same power plant used in the T-38 trainer, and a high-speed, hypersonic engine being developed by Hermeus. The company’s hypersonic engine is essentially wrapped around the J85. The contract between The Air Force and Hermeus will push Hermeus to test three different Quarterhorse aircrafts in the next three years.
