Hypersonic Flight and AI Dogfights: U.S. Defense Startups Set to Redefine Air Power

Micah Hanks·
Hermeus Quarterhorse
The Hermeus Quarterhorse Mk 1 seen on the lakebed at Edwards AFB (Credit: Hermeus).

Welcome to this week’s installment of The Intelligence Brief… recently, two groundbreaking developments in autonomous and high-speed aviation are signaling a dramatic shift in the future of military airpower. In our analysis this week, we’ll be exploring 1) how Hermeus successfully completed the inaugural flight of its Quarterhorse Mk 1 aircraft, a reusable high-speed platform designed to eventually reach near-Mach 5 speeds, 2) Anduril’s introduction of the Fury, an autonomous fighter jet built from the ground up to operate without a pilot, using advanced AI to execute complex aerial combat maneuvers, and 3) how these new efforts highlight the ways private U.S. startups are reshaping defense innovation through speed and reusability, as well as through artificial intelligence and autonomy.

Quote of the Week

“Industry partnerships continue to have an important role in the development and test of disruptive and innovative capabilities for our warfighters.”

– Major General Scott Cain, Commander, USAF Test Center

RECENT NEWS from The Debrief

Speed Meets Autonomy: Hermeus and Anduril Unveil the Future of Military Aviation

Recently, it was revealed that two U.S. defense technology startups—Hermeus and Anduril—are making significant advancements that will contribute to autonomous flight capabilities in the years ahead. These capabilities will pave the way toward faster military aviation capabilities complemented by artificial intelligence.

Earlier this week, it was announced that Hermeus recently completed the maiden flight of its new high-speed Quarterhorse aircraft. The successful flight marks a significant step toward reusable hypersonic platforms. Meanwhile, Anduril has also recently introduced Fury, its AI-powered autonomous fighter jet that boasts lethal combat capabilities without a pilot.

The parallel developments offer a glimpse at how private firms are currently working to shape the next generation of air dominance through divergent but complementary innovations that combine extreme speed with sophisticated autonomy.

Hermeus Hits a Milestone with Quarterhorse Test Flight

Marking a major milestone with the successful test flight of its Quarterhorse Mk 1 aircraft, Hermeus sent its new experimental aircraft skyward from Edwards Air Force Base in California on May 21.

Backed by venture capital and early investments by the U.S. Air Force, Hermeus has been focused on developing a reusable autonomous aircraft capable of flight speeds nearing Mach 5 by sometime next year. Last week’s test flight successfully validated basic flight operations like takeoff and landing, both fundamental components of flight but especially difficult tasks for high-speed systems.

“We’ve proven the viability of our iterative development approach,” said Hermeus CEO AJ Piplica in a statement following the test flight at Edwards, adding that “this is just the start.”

Employing a hardware-rich strategy that involved constructing multiple prototypes at a rapid pace, the Quarterhorse Mk 2, which is currently under construction, is expected to reach supersonic speeds by the end of the year, well in advance of the company’s projections for Mach 5 flight by 2026. Currently, Hermeus plans to build one aircraft each year, providing a flexible platform for both defense and commercial customers.

Right now, the Pentagon is pursuing a range of hypersonic weapons and vehicle programs, which makes what Hermeus is developing particularly attractive to the Defense Department in terms of its longer-term objectives. To support its work, the company was initially awarded $1.5 million in 2020 by the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), followed by a much larger contract worth $60 million.

The Defense Innovation Unit also selected Hermeus to develop its own hypersonic testing program, which puts the firm in an ideal position to support DOD test campaigns beginning next year.

Anduril Unveils AI-Driven Autonomous Fighter Jet

While Hermeus focuses on speed, Anduril Industries is pushing the envelope in a different area: artificial intelligence. Recently, the company unveiled its YFQ-44A “Fury”, a fully autonomous air combat vehicle capable of rivaling even the most advanced existing fighter jets in performance, but with no need for a pilot.

Fury is a Group 5 autonomous air vehicle, falling under the same classification as the MQ-9 Reaper and RQ-4 Global Hawk currently in use by the DoD. Unlike these drones, Fury is designed more for combat situations and is equipped with jet-like performance. It is roughly half the size of an F-16 and has a Williams FJ44-4M turbofan engine.

Current estimates indicate that Fury can reach Mach 0.95 and can perform high-G maneuvers, given that the system is not encumbered by the physiological limitations presented by having a human pilot on board.

Constructed from the ground up for autonomous combat, Fury relies on Anduril’s Lattice AI software, which allows it to execute missions independently except in instances where human operators may be required to override its autonomous capabilities. The aircraft is expected to be equipped with air-to-air missiles and operate alongside the DoD’s piloted platforms, like the F-35, which will serve a potentially crucial role in extending their overall range and survivability.

Additionally, Anduril is focusing its strategy on scalability and affordability. The estimated cost of producing Fury is between $25 and $30 million, making it far less expensive to assemble than any fifth-generation fighter jet.

Shaping the Future of Aerial Warfare

The recent advancements by Hermeus and Anduril both exemplify how startups in the defense tech sector are redefining aerospace innovation, primarily through their focus on specialization.

Such advancements in speed and intelligent autonomy, combined with an affordability factor that makes their inclusion in the U.S.’s warfighting arsenal particularly attractive, potentially hold the promise of fundamentally transforming American military capabilities, whether by delivering testbeds for hypersonic technologies or deploying swarms of AI-enabled fighter jets.

If successful within the next few years, these new platforms could ultimately usher in a new era of high-speed, unmanned, and cost-effective airpower, reducing risks to human pilots while greatly expanding the tactical horizon of modern air combat.

That concludes this week’s installment of The Intelligence Brief. You can read past editions of our newsletter at our website, or if you found this installment online, don’t forget to subscribe and get future email editions from us here. Also, if you have a tip or other information you’d like to send along directly to me, you can email me at micah [@] thedebrief [dot] org, or reach me on X: @MicahHanks.

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