Tom Bussing: Raytheon, DoD in Talks Over Tactical Boost Glide Dev’t Project

Tom Bussing, vice president for advanced missile systems at Raytheon, has said the company was selected by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency to build a new tactical boost glide platform, National Defense reported Wednesday.

Bussing told reporters Wednesday at the Farnborough International Airshow the company is in negotiations with the Defense Department and hopes to secure the contract for the new weapons system in the next several months.

The TBG program is a joint effort of DARPA and the U.S. Air Force and seeks to build and demonstrate technology platforms that could lead to the development of tactical-range, air-launched hypersonic boost glide systems that can travel at speeds faster than Mach 5 to support future offensive strike missions.

DARPA awarded Raytheon a potential $175 million contract in 2016 to perform research work on the Hypersonic Air-breathing Weapon Concept program.

Bussing noted that the company’s work on the HAWC initiative has “achieved significant milestones.”