Hypersonic and High-Cadence Airborne Testing Capabilities (HyCAT)

The Defense Department’s commercial innovation hub, the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU), is taking another step toward flight of its prototype hypersonic test jet, asking commercial industry to provide available technologies and payloads — such as propulsion units and communications packages — to be integrated for future demonstration.

The Area of Interest (AOI) solicitation, released by DIU on Monday, is a follow-on to the Hypersonic and High-Cadence Airborne Testing Capabilities (HyCAT) initiative launched last September. HyCAT is aimed at speeding development and lowering costs of new hypersonic weapon systems.

The follow-on effort to that, HyCAT: Transformative Technologies (HyCAT II), “aims to support prototype testing of new hypersonic technologies in the relevant environment, leveraging the modular payload capability being developed under the HyCAT I CSO,” the AOI explains.

Technologies of interest include:

• Low-cost Manufacturing and Materials

• Alternative Guidance, navigation and control systems and components;

• Propulsion (e.g. air breathing, rocket, combined cycle, novel, low-cost, low-signature)

• Communications systems and components, including telemetry and secure data-links.