The US is asking industry to help design a new hypersonic cruise missile that can outperform current systems while remaining affordable to produce at scale.
The US is asking industry to help design a new hypersonic cruise missile that can outperform current systems while remaining affordable to produce at scale.
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) issued a request for information for the Next Generation Hypersonic Cruise Missile, a planned system-level effort to build and flight-test a fully integrated hypersonic cruise missile demonstrator.
DARPA wants proposals capable of achieving a major improvement in range, cruise speed, altitude, or a combination of those factors.
For the missile itself, the agency is interested in air-breathing designs that could be launched from aircraft, ground systems, or surface platforms. Proposed concepts could range from fighter-carried weapons to larger systems intended for bombers or ground launch.
Testing is another major focus. DARPA wants new approaches to instrumentation, telemetry, data assimilation, flight test architectures, and range safety that could reduce the time and cost needed to validate hypersonic systems.
It is also interested in autonomous test technologies and approaches that could reduce reliance on traditional test ranges.
US Expands Hypersonic Weapons Development
DARPA's new cruise missile effort comes alongside several hypersonic programs already moving through development, testing, and fielding.
The US Army and Navy are jointly developing the Common Hypersonic Glide Body for the army's Dark Eagle and the navy's Conventional Prompt Strike programs.
In March, the services conducted a successful common hypersonic missile launch from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station as part of the continuing test program.
The army has also moved Dark Eagle closer to operational use. In December 2025, it activated a dedicated battery at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington, and the system was deployed to Australia during Exercise Talisman Sabre 2025.
Meanwhile, the air force is advancing the Hypersonic Attack Cruise Missile, an air-launched, scramjet-powered weapon designed to attack high-value targets from stand-off ranges.
