US Air Force to spend nearly $2bn to develop hypersonic cruise missile HACM that would surpass Russian and Chinese weapons

The US Department of Defense is developing two similar projects to develop hypersonic missiles for the US Air Force and US Navy. One of them will receive nearly $2bn over five years.

Here's What We Know

In mid-March, following the release of the Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 draft budget, it was revealed that the US Air Force is requesting $384 million to continue development of the Hypersonic Attack Cruise Missile (HACM) hypersonic weapon. Funding compared to FY2023 is reduced by $41 million.

The budget documents indicate that the U.S. Air Force will continue to develop the project for at least five years. From FY2025 to FY2028, $1.5 billion will be allocated for hypersonic missile development, which means funding for 5 years will be almost $2 billion.

U.S. Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall called the HACM project "quite successful. The service has already decided on the role of the concept. The strength of the weapon will be that it will be compatible with more aircraft and give "more combat capability." In terms of launch range, the HACM could surpass the hypersonic counterparts that China and Russia are working on.

The HACM programme is based on the Hypersonic Air-breathing Weapon Concept (HAWC). The HAWC hypersonic missile has already been tested with a B-52 Stratofortress aircraft. Prior to that, an F/A-18 Hornet fighter jet was involved in the test.