UK MoD unveils first steps for British Army Watchkeeper replacement
Project Corvus will look for a replacement for the Watchkeeper Mk1 uncrewed aerial system (UAS) that was retired from service in the British Army in March 2025.
Hypersonic missile programme gears up for PDR
Australia and the US signed a collaborative agreement in late 2020 to develop and test hypersonic cruise missile prototypes under the Southern Cross Integrated Flight Research Experiment (SCIFiRE).
Australian-US SCIFiRE programme aims to result in a precision strike missile capable of travelling at Mach 5.
The USAF has awarded Raytheon a $27.99 million contract modification in connection with the Phase I Preliminary Design Review (PDR) in the Southern Cross Integrated Flight Research Experiment (SCIFiRE) long-range hypersonic missile programme.
In completing the PDR by 2 September 2022 at Tuscon, Arizona, Raytheon will ‘mature a solid rocket-boosted, air-breathing, hypersonic conventional cruise missile, air-launched from existing fighter/bomber aircraft’, the DoD noted on 3 September.
SCIFiRE is a collaborative effort between Australia and the US, with the two governments signing a deal in November 2020 to develop and test full-sized hypersonic cruise missile prototypes.
In particular, the R&D programme is intended to result in a precision strike missile capable of travelling at Mach 5.
At the time, Shephard noted that Australia and the US have been collaborating on R&D relating to hypersonic scramjets, rocket motors, sensors and advanced manufacturing materials for more than 15 years.
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