Hermeus is breaking ground on a new engine and flight test facility HEAT will accelerate US hypersonic development, offering increased testing cadence for not only Hermeus, but the DoD and larger defense industrial base.
Hermeus has selected Cecil Airport in Jacksonville, Florida for its hypersonic engine test facility. Named HEAT (High Enthalpy Air-Breathing Test Facility), this facility will be Hermeus’ largest and most technologically advanced test site to date and become a national asset for hypersonic testing. The site will also be the initial base for Hermeus’ high-Mach flight test capabilities starting in 2026, expanding cadence and affordability of the nation’s flight test infrastructure.
We announced our plans for the new facility at a groundbreaking ceremony at Cecil Airport in Jacksonville. Hermeus executives and employees were joined by U.S. Congressman Aaron Bean (FL- 04), U.S. Congressman John Rutherford (FL-05), State Sen. Clay Yarborough (R-Jacksonville), Mayor Donna Deegan, Florida Department of Commerce officials, JAXUSA officials, and other community leaders.
The HEAT facility will provide continuous high flow rate, high enthalpy and low-pressure conditions required for high-supersonic and low-hypersonic flight modeling. This capability will make the facility an important asset to more effectively test and field various hypersonic technologies – not only for Hermeus but also for the Department of Defense and its commercial partners.
Hermeus will test a variety of engines and propulsion subsystems at HEAT – from the Pratt & Whitney F100 engine to Hermeus’ proprietary hypersonic Chimera engine. The facility will be built in phases with initial sea-level static engine tests starting before the end of 2024. Future phases of the facility will introduce continuous high-Mach vitiated air flow to simulate more flight-like high-Mach testing conditions on the ground.
“The United States is lacking in the capability to rapidly and economically test air-breathing hypersonic engines,” said AJ Piplica, Hermeus Co-Founder and CEO. “The few test facilities available have years-long waitlists and are prohibitively expensive. The commercially operated testing services that we will offer at our HEAT facility are more economical and responsive to dynamic test requirements and are better suited to match the ever-changing needs of the warfighter.”
Additionally, Cecil Airport will serve as the initial base for Hermeus’ commercial high-Mach flight test service. Hermeus’ autonomous Quarterhorse aircraft will depart from Cecil, ferry into the Eastern Range to conduct flight test operations, then return and land at Cecil. Services are expected to begin in 2026, quickly scaling capacity to a weekly test cadence to meet the demand signal of multiple government and commercial customers.
Hermeus expects to invest $135 million in the project and create more than 100 jobs over the course of the decade.
As a former Naval Air Station, Cecil Airport has significant test infrastructure already in place, including multiple test cells and an aircraft hush house which Hermeus will inherit and build upon. Additionally, its location in Jacksonville, FL offers a strong aerospace workforce, access to airspace for hypersonic flight test, and proximity to Hermeus’ headquarters in Atlanta, GA.
Brian Wang is a Futurist Thought Leader and a popular Science blogger with 1 million readers per month. His blog Nextbigfuture.com is ranked #1 Science News Blog. It covers many disruptive technology and trends including Space, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Medicine, Anti-aging Biotechnology, and Nanotechnology.
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Historically we have not had a problem building hypersonic rocket planes (like our X-15) Going back to the late 1950’s. That went 4,000+mph, and was the first true “spacecraft”. I have long wondered how our space program would have progressed if we pursued rocket planes, and air breathing hypersonic aerospace craft. But we never would have gotten to the moon in less then 10 years without sticking our astronaut’s on top of ballistic missiles. All our original astronaut’s were military pilot’s, with most of them having combat experience in WW2,and/ or Korea. Many of them we’re shot at, and the other guy missed. When our guys shot, more often then not, they did not miss. Certainly works for me. Go dudes! And today, ladies.
Hey, I’m not a “warmonger”, I do not wish conflict. But if someone takes a shot at one of our planes, or ships, or people, we need to take them out. Very quickly. This is no game, it’s as hard core life and death as it gets. We must respond proportionally, which we actually can. How?
Our conventical forces (meaning non-nuclear) have a VAST advantage over Russia’s, and most everyone else. The more Putin rattles his nuclear sabers, the more he screams how weak he is. The danger is, he may “wake up”, and be very pissed. Not good. Russia has more nukes then any nation on Earth. The USA? About 2/3ds at most, But we, and they know, our targeting capability is VASTLY more, uhm… intimate. We can send a cruise missel threw the keyhole of Putins dacha (translation, summer or other home) front door.
He know this? Yup. Like it?, hell no, would you?. But this “truth” is hardly a secret. The danger is if he feels cornered. If he feels “insecure” he may put his nuclear force’s on alert. The fact he so often rattles his nuclear force’s, only reinforces what the USA and other western nations have long known. The conventional Russian military is well, awful. Undisciplined and unprofessional. Oh sure, they have lots of equipment, bombs, etc. But the people who (often, but not always) have control over them? Do f they use serious feel happy, respected, believe in a future that they look forward to?
Only if they use serious drugs.