Editor’s Brief

Last Week, I released my top three companies from the first 31 issues.

This week, we are back with a company deep dive: Hermeus Corporation, bringing Darkstar from Top Gun Maverick to life.

As always, your feedback shapes our coverage. Reply directly with insights or questions.

Signal Brief: Hermeus - Reviving Skunk Works for the Hypersonic Age

Hermeus combines a turbojet core and ramjet into a single engine that is capable of transitioning modes mid‑flight, enabling reusable hypersonic aircraft. Their product roadmap includes a series of rapid prototype aircraft, a multi‑mission unmanned high‑Mach drone, and a Mach‑5 passenger aircraft.

Origins & Vision

Founded in 2018 by A.J. Piplica (CEO), Glenn Case (CTO), Mike Smayda, and Skyler Shuford, the four co-founders previously worked together at Generation Orbit, where they developed the Air Force’s X-60A hypersonic rocket plane.

In 2019, Hermeus closed a seed round led by Khosla Ventures and by August 2020, the company won a $1.5 million Phase II SBIR from the U.S. Air Force to evaluate a hypersonic aircraft concept for potential Air Force One missions.

In November 2022, Hermeus successfully demonstrated the turbojet-to-ramjet transition on the Chimera engine after designing, building, and testing it in 21 months for $18 million. The first flight of Quarterhorse Mk 1 followed in May 2025.

Hermeus’s mission:

Key Takeaways

• Reusable hypersonics redefine mission design. Aircraft that can land, refuel, and relaunch turn hypersonic speed into a persistent capability for intelligence, deterrence, and rapid global response.

• Turbine-based combined cycle breakthrough The Chimera engine’s turbine-to-ramjet transition enables acceleration to Mach 5+ utilizing standard runways.

• COTS turbine core reduces risk. Chimera II will integrate a Pratt & Whitney F100 core (~30M flight hours in F-15/16)

• Strategic Government Partnerships. Hermeus has been awarded over $85M in government contracts from the Air Force, DIU, NASA, and other DoD orgs

Tech Radar:

Chimera TBCC — Runway-Based Hypersonics

Chimera uses a turbine-based combined cycle architecture that transitions from turbojet to ramjet mode within a single engine.

At low speeds, it operates like a conventional jet using a Pratt & Whitney F100 core. As velocity increases, airflow bypasses the turbine, switching to a ramjet flowpath sustained by vehicle speed alone.

Key Capabilities

• Mode transition: Seamless shift from turbine to ramjet operation.

• Pre-cooler system: Proprietary air-cooling technology manages extreme thermal loads.

• COTS integration: Proven F100 turbine components simplify sustainment and supply chains.

Quarterhorse Series

Darkhorse — Operational Hypersonic Drone

A multi-mission unmanned system capable of ISR, strike, and adversary-air roles.

Halcyon — Commercial Hypersonic Transport

A conceptual Mach-5 passenger aircraft designed to connect global cities in under 90 minutes

Market Signals

Funding & Growth

• Total Funding: ~$363M across 4 Round

• Latest Round: $200M Series C (Aug 2025)

• Notable Investors: Khosla Ventures, Canaan Partners, Bling Capital, Revolution, Sam Altman, Founders Fund, In-Q-Tel

• Valuation: $702.4M (Post-Money Valuation)

Contracts & Government Traction

• AFWERX STRATFI (2021): $60M to build and fly three Quarterhorse aircraft and develop reusable hypersonic propulsion.

• DIU HyCAT (2023): Supports the Hypersonic and High-Cadence Airborne Testing initiative for low-cost, rapid test infrastructure.

• SBIR Phase II (Aug 2024): $1.3M for testing space-based sensors with reusable high-speed effectors.

• SBIR Phase II (Jan 2025): $1.7M for Thermal Protection Systems (TPS) research and SATCOM terminal design for hypersonic platforms.

Looking Ahead

In 1943, Clarence “Kelly” Johnson and his Skunk Works team designed and delivered America’s first operational jet, the P-80 Shooting Star, in just 143 days. 

By 1957, the CIA approached Lockheed again, this time to develop an “undetectable” reconnaissance platform. The result was the A-12 Cygnus, a Mach-3+ aircraft that first flew in 1962. Months later, the Air Force greenlit the SR-71 Blackbird, and within six years, the U.S. fielded a platform that still holds world records six decades later.

Then came the Joint Strike Fighter era.

The program began as the Joint Advanced Strike Technology (JAST) initiative in 1993, and Lockheed conducting their first demonstrator flight in 2000. Yet the Navy’s first operational F-35C squadron didn’t deploy until 2021, over twenty-five years after the initial contract was signed.

To make matters worse, In 2024, Lockheed delivered 110 aircraft. Every one of them late with an average of 238 days behind schedule. Despite that, incentive payments continued. Under the current structure, deliveries up to 60 days late can still earn “on-time” bonuses. 

(Full GAO report on the F-35 program available here)

Lockheed Martin, descended from the legendary Skunk Works, now takes a generation to deliver a new fighter and considers late, on time.

But Hermeus represents a return to that original Skunk Works model: small, vertically integrated teams with empowered engineers and a bias for action. The company went from founding to first flight in under seven years, with less than $500 million in total funding.

They’ve done it not with incentive fees or sprawling bureaucracy, but by reviving the principle that once defined the Jet Age: build fast, test fast, learn fast.

Is the Mk 1 production-ready? No, absolutely not. But it’s already flown.
And that alone is a meaningful signal.

Challenges

• Production scaling & QA from one-off builds to repeatable rate.

• Operational reliability of TBCC across many cycles, reasonable maintenance intervals.

• Certification (Air Force airworthiness now; any future FAA pathway is unprecedented even with recent FAA reauth flexibilities).

Bottom Line:

As for hypersonics’ tactical role, the picture remains uncertain. China potentially fields Mach 8+ missiles and a new generation of long-range air-to-air weapons. Luckily hitting a bullet with a bullet will remain an extraordinarily difficult task for the foreseeable future.

A runway-launched platform that can collect intelligence, strike, and return the same day transforms hypersonics from a one-shot weapon into a persistent capability. 

Just as important, Hermeus is proving that American aerospace can still out-innovate when freed from layers of process and perverse incentives. The company’s progress is a reminder that speed itself, of learning, building, and iterating, is a form of national advantage.

Stay Ahead of Defense Innovation

Not just because it’s content
But because the future is being built. And you want a seat at the table.