SCIFIRE or the Southern Cross Integrated Flight Research Experiment is an American-Australian military technology partnership that is developing a solid-rocket boosted, air-breathing, hypersonic conventional

cruise missile A cruise missile is a guided missile used against terrestrial or naval targets that remains in the atmosphere and flies the major portion of its flight path at approximately constant speed. Cruise missiles are designed to deliver a large warhea ...

that can be launched by existing fighter or bomber aircraft.

History

The project is led by the

United States Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD or DOD) is an executive branch department of the federal government charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government directly related to national secur ...

and the

Australian Department of Defence Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Au ...

. The

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army S ...

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

, the

Royal Australian Air Force "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = RAAF Anniversary Commemoration ...

Headquarters and the Australian

Defence Science and Technology Group The Defence Science and Technology Group (DSTG) is part of the Australian Department of Defence dedicated to providing science and technology support to safeguard Australia and its national interests. The agency's name was changed from Defenc ...

are working with contractors

Boeing The Boeing Company () is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, telecommunications equipment, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and ...

, Lockheed Martin and

Raytheon Technologies Raytheon Technologies Corporation is an American multinational aerospace and defense conglomerate headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. It is one of the largest aerospace and defense manufacturers in the world by revenue and market capitaliz ...

. The project is an "outgrowth" of the 2007-initiated HIFiRE project, which involved the same partners and explored

scramjet A scramjet (supersonic combustion ramjet) is a variant of a ramjet airbreathing jet engine in which combustion takes place in supersonic airflow. As in ramjets, a scramjet relies on high vehicle speed to compress the incoming air forceful ...

engine technology and tested the flight dynamics of a Mach 8

hypersonic glide vehicle Hypersonic glide vehicle (HGV) is a type of warhead for ballistic missile that can maneuver and glide at hypersonic speed. It is used on ballistic missiles to significantly change their trajectories. Conventional ballistic missiles follow a predi ...

. SCIFiRE officially commenced in November 2020. The missile will be capable of Mach 5 speed and will be suitable for launching from an

F/A-18F Super Hornet The Boeing F/A-18E and F/A-18F Super Hornet are twin-engine, carrier-capable, multirole fighter aircraft variants based on the McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet. The F/A-18E single-seat and F/A-18F tandem-seat variants are larger and more ad ...

EA-18G Growler The Boeing EA-18G Growler is an American carrier-based electronic warfare aircraft, a specialized version of the two-seat F/A-18F Super Hornet. The EA-18G replaced the Northrop Grumman EA-6B Prowlers in service with the United States Navy. ...

F-35A Lightning II The Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II is an American family of single-seat, single-engine, all-weather stealth multirole combat aircraft that is intended to perform both air superiority and strike missions. It is also able to provide ele ...

or a

P-8A Poseidon The Boeing P-8 Poseidon is an American maritime patrol and reconnaissance aircraft developed and produced by Boeing Defense, Space & Security, and derived from the civilian Boeing 737-800. It was developed for the United States Navy (USN). Th ...

maritime surveillance aircraft. Flight testing is expected to occur in the

RAAF Woomera Range Complex The RAAF Woomera Range Complex (WRC) is a major Australian Military aviation, military and Civil aviation, civil aerospace facility and operation located in South Australia, approximately north-west of Adelaide. The WRC is operated by the Roya ...

in South Australia. As of 2021, the missile is expected to enter service within 5 to 10 years. The Australian Government considers the missile to be a potential deterrent to would-be aggressors in the Pacific region. the follow-on tactical-range

Hypersonic Attack Cruise Missile The Hypersonic Attack Cruise Missile (HACM) is a scramjet-powered hypersonic air-launched cruise missile project, the successor of the Hypersonic Air-breathing Weapon Concept (HAWC) and the SCIFiRE hypersonic programs. Technology developed for ...

(HACM) will be built by Raytheon Technologies and will use a

Northrop Grumman Northrop Grumman Corporation is an American multinational aerospace and defense technology company. With 90,000 employees and an annual revenue in excess of $30 billion, it is one of the world's largest weapons manufacturers and military tec ...

scramjet.https://www.janes.com/defence-news/news-detail/raytheonnorthrop-grumman-team-selected-for-hacm-hypersonic-weapon

References

Cruise missiles Proposed weapons of the United States Proposed weapons {{rocketry-stub