Charles Lyons-Burt
Hypersonic weapons are a major area of contestation for the U.S. with near peer competitors like China. Part of the main thrust of the military alliance between the U.S., Australia and the United Kindom, AUKUS, is the development of these weapons, which can travel at a blistering speed of Mach 5, or five times the speed of sound. They are also built to travel in extremely high atmospheric zones and can thus go undetected or bypass traditional aerial lines of defense.
“Our competitors…are ahead of us in a number of key aspects. We can always improve the technology, but at this point I honestly believe our remaining challenges are more policy and infrastructure than technical,” said Mark Lewis when discussing hypersonic weapons. Lewis is the CEO of the Purdue University Applied Research Institute and the former acting deputy under secretary of Defense for research and engineering, as well as an expert in hypersonics.
Lewis will be a panelist at ExecutiveBiz’s upcoming 2023 Hypersonics Forum, during which a slate of speakers deeply engrossed in America’s fight to be dominant in this technology area will dive headfirst into a discussion of national milestones, goals and setbacks. You don’t want to miss this vital conversation, hosted at Falls Church, Virginia’s 2941 Restaurant on Aug. 15. Register now!
Earlier this month, Lewis’ new home, Purdue University, made a major step toward closing the policy and infrastructure gap that the research executive outlined: the West Lafayette, Indiana-based school opened the Hypersonics and Applied Research Facility. The hub contains reportedly the world’s first Mach 8 quiet wind tunnel, as well as a hypersonic pulse reflected shock/expansion tunnel and the Hypersonics Advanced Manufacturing Technology Center. It cost a whopping $41 million and covers 65,000 square feet.
“The Hypersonic Applied Research Facility is an investment in test and evaluation and research capabilities that this country desperately needs,” said Lewis, whose arm of the school, PARI, established the facility.
The HARF’s tunnels are simulated spaces mirroring and demonstrating high-speed flight scenarios in a more advanced and realistic way than any previously built hypersonic testing facilities. Its data is thus more precise, according to the university and can help researchers study and reproduce missile travel behavior, spacecraft re-entry and mimic high-speed propulsion engine conditions.
The facility’s manufacturing technology center, meanwhile, has been envisioned as space where hypersonics technicians can design, create and test prototypes alongside partners from across industries.
“Through facilities such as HARF, we will help solve some of the most challenging and relevant problems in the field of high-speed flight while also building the future workforce,” Lewis concluded.
Lewis will describe how the HARF is moving the U.S. forward in the hypersonics race and elaborate on discoveries made by the center thus far at ExecutiveBiz’s Aug. 15 Hypersonics Forum. You’ll have a chance to network with other private sector leaders who are also involved in weapon production and get to dialogue directly with speakers like Lewis and James Weber, principal director for hypersonics in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, who will be delivering the keynote address.
This breakfast event will also feature 2941 Restaurant’s delicious food so come hungry! Register here today.
