Hypersonic Attack Cruise Missile

The Hypersonic Attack Cruise Missile is the U.S. Air Force's air-breathing hypersonic weapon, using a Northrop Grumman scramjet engine to sustain hypersonic cruise in the atmosphere rather than a boost-glide trajectory. Raytheon won sole-source development in 2022 after the DARPA/USAF Hypersonic Air-breathing Weapon Concept (HAWC) program successfully demonstrated the core technology.

HACM is sized for external carriage on the F-15EX as the lead integration aircraft, with subsequent integration onto bomber and fighter platforms. It fills the tactical-air hypersonic niche alongside the Navy's CPS and the Army's LRHW, and after the cancellation of the AGM-183 ARRW program it is now the Air Force's primary hypersonic strike investment.

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