Scalable Air-Launched Hypersonic Vehicle for Low-Cost, Rapid Production and Deployment

Existing and near-term anti-access and area-denial systems of near-peer adversaries present a considerable risk in the event of a conflict. Development of a high-speed, low-cost decoy vehicle that can be rapidly developed and fielded would provide a significant level of protection to U.S. personnel and assets by mitigating and/or occupying these threats. To meet technical, cost, and production rate needs of the U.S. Navy, IN Space proposes the development of a vehicle that uses a rotating detonation engine in combination with a ramjet to achieve high combustion efficiency and greatly increased fuel capacity to increase range. The proposed Phase I activity expands a technical sizing model for the decoy vehicle into a comprehensive sizing, performance, trajectory, and cost model in order to conduct detailed trade studies in support of producing design that reaches range and speed requirements while achieving cost goals. These trades will be supported by data from initial evaluations of critical aspects of the propulsion system and parametric trajectory simulations of the vehicle in the Phase I. A preliminary design review of the vehicle is conducted at the end of the Phase I and will identify remain development and risk reduction tasks in the Phase II leading to prototype flight tests in subsequent work.