Hermeus unveils new uncrewed aircraft Quarterhorse Mk 1

The Quarterhorse Mk 1 aircraft, which will launch later this year, has been unveiled by Hermeus, the company operationalizing hypersonic aircraft.

In under seven months, the business designed, constructed, and integrated this vehicle—Quadhorse Mk 0 finished its test campaign in November 2023—becoming its second fully-integrated vehicle in as many years. As a new benchmark for the rate of aircraft development, the team has set one aircraft every year for this rate of iteration.

Equipped with a GE J85 engine, the Quarterhorse Mk 1 is a remotely controlled, unmanned aircraft. As a critical enabling capability exclusive to future hypersonic aircraft on the company’s roadmap, its main goal is to demonstrate high-speed takeoff and landing. At Edwards Air Force Base, there will be flight testing.

With the completion of this milestone, Mk 1 moves from the “design and build” phase to the “integrated test” phase. In order to get ready for a flight test later this year, the vehicle will undergo a series of tests in the upcoming months covering its operations, human aspects, ground station, and subsystems.

In addition to showcasing the aircraft, Hermeus also shared plans for the next iteration of Quarterhorse – Mk 2 – which will feature the Pratt & Whitney F100 engine and fly at supersonic speeds next year. 

The company’s roadmap to Darkhorse, a multi-mission hypersonic aircraft for defence and national security missions, is accelerated by Hermeus’ strategic decision to switch to the more capable F100 engine for Quarterhorse Mk 2. At the same time, the company delivers a compelling intermediate product—the only purpose-built high-Mach drone in the world.