Boeing wins £23m US Navy supersonic ramjet contract

The £23 million contract will develop the supersonic propulsion-enabled advanced ramjet (SPEAR) flight demonstrator with the Air Warfare Center Weapons Division of the US Navy.

“The SPEAR flight demonstrator will provide the F/A-18 Super Hornet and carrier strike group with significant improvements in range and survivability against advanced threat defensive systems,” said Steve Mercer, Boeing’s SPEAR programme manager. “We have a talented team of engineers to meet the challenging technical demands and schedule timeline that the SPEAR program requires. We look forward to working with Navy experts to advance technologies for the Navy’s future capabilities.”

Boeing and the Navy Air Warfare Center Weapons Division plan to fly the SPEAR demonstrator in late 2022.

Prior successes by Boeing in developing supersonic and hypersonic technologies include the X-51 Waverider test vehicle in 2010 and the Variable Flow Ducted Rocket propulsion system under the Triple Target Terminator program in 2014.

Modern fighter jets are being designed more as stand-off platforms to launch attacks instead of simply dog-fighters.

The idea of SPEAR is to make strike fighters operating off carriers more lethal defend against threats without exposing themselves to unnecessary danger.

Supersonic ramjet missiles have been deployed since the 1940s, but a solid-fuel ramjet missile that can be carried by fighter jets is a new development.

www.boeing.com