MOSCOW, August 12. /TASS/. The Pentagon’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) intends to launch a program to create a new air-breathing hypersonic cruise missile that would be impossible to intercept using existing air defense and missile defense systems.

On August 7, the agency sent a request for information (RFI) to potential developers to assess the feasibility of such an initiative.

The NGHCM (Next-Generation Hypersonic Cruise Missile) initiative, which DARPA intends to launch, is designed, according to the agency, to demonstrate the feasibility of developing a cruise missile that will be virtually invulnerable to air defense and missile defense systems while also being inexpensive enough for mass production. The prototype missile, which the agency intends to develop as part of the NGHCM program, is intended to "establish the foundation for a next-generation capability that delivers a revolutionary leap in operational performance" for traits like range, speed and altitude, the RFI stated.

DARPA would like to obtain weapons that could be made available to the US Armed Forces as quickly as possible. Companies intending to participate in the initiative have been asked to "define an optimal, accelerated schedule" for development, flight testing, subsequent improvements, and other activities.

Another aspect that potential contractors should pay attention to is the technologies that will be incorporated into the latest new air-breathing hypersonic cruise missile: ramjet engines, "high-energy fuels," state-of-the-art rocket boosters, heat-resistant materials, high-power cooling systems, and "energy generation/ignition/fuel supply" systems. The third point relates to "innovative" methods that would allow the product’s performance characteristics to be tested and verified in a short timeframe.

DARPA did not provide specific technical specifications for the future hypersonic cruise missile in its request. It merely noted that it plans to test designs with a range of 250 to 2,000 nautical miles (463-3,704 km).

The agency also made no mention of a target flight speed for the prototype. It is generally accepted that hypersonic missiles travel faster than Mach 5.

Another important factor for DARPA is the ability to test the hypersonic cruise missile "without attracting too much attention from the outside." As the agency explained, the proposed concepts must not only facilitate the collection of all data necessary for the verification and certification of the latest weapons, their subsequent adoption into service, and combat use, but also "ensure a minimum of observable signs" that any such tests are being prepared or are already underway.

DARPA also refrained from drawing any analogies to existing hypersonic winged missiles that American developers might use as a reference. The weekly Defense News, for its part, noted that the Russian Armed Forces already have Tsirkon air-breathing hypersonic cruise missiles at their disposal, which are being actively used in the current conflict in Ukraine.

According to official statements from the Russian side, it is impossible to intercept Tsirkons using existing air defense and missile defense systems and capabilities. Ukraine, however, claimed that it had managed to shoot down several such missiles using the US-made Patriot interceptors, though no concrete evidence of this was provided.