Purdue Applied Research Institute joins team awarded $1.45 billion to enhance hypersonic flight test capacity

The Hypersonics and Applied Research Facility — home to the forthcoming Mach 8 quiet wind tunnel, the HYPULSE reflected shock/expansion tunnel and the Hypersonics Advanced Manufacturing Technology Center — where the research for this project will take place.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — The Purdue Applied Research Institute (PARI) has been selected as a member of the team, led by Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Inc., awarded a five-year, $1.45 billion contract for the Multi-Service Advanced Capability Hypersonic Test Bed (MACH-TB) 2.0.

The Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering Test Resource Management Center established MACH-TB to support the office’s National Hypersonic Initiative 2.0 by creating an affordable flight test bed to rapidly increase hypersonic flight test capacity. MACH-TB 2.0 will provide an affordable bridge between hypersonic ground tests and system-level flight tests. This will reduce overall hypersonic development risks and time and provide rapid transition of innovative hypersonic technologies.

George Rumford, director of the Test Resource Management Center, said, “We are excited to continue the success of the MACH-TB program with this award. MACH-TB is an essential tool to accelerate science and technology experiments into next-generation, leap-ahead hypersonic capabilities for our nation.”

“The United States is in a race with peer competitors to deploy hypersonic systems, and a critical part of winning that race is an all-hands-on-deck effort to rebuild our nation’s ability to test in flight,” said Mark Lewis, president and CEO of PARI. “That’s what MACH-TB is all about and why PARI is so proud to be a part of this incredibly vital national effort, working alongside every major player in the hypersonic community.”

Kratos was awarded the prime role in Task Area 1 Systems Engineering, Integration, and Testing, to include integrated subscale, full-scale and air launch services to address the need to affordably increase hypersonic flight test cadence. PARI will join the Kratos-led team of subcontractors that will provide systems engineering, assembly, integration, testing, mission planning, and execution and launch services. Additional key teammates include Leidos, Rocket Lab, Koda Technologies, Corvid Technologies, North Wind, JRC Integrated Systems, Stratolaunch, CFD Research, PAR Systems and the University of Minnesota.

“We are honored to lead the MACH-TB 2.0 integrated team,” said Michael Johns, senior vice president of Kratos SRE. “The nation is at a critical point in the need for rapid and affordable hypersonic flight testing to quickly develop and field hypersonic technologies, and the MACH-TB program, with the support of PARI, is filling that need.”

About Purdue University

Purdue University is a public research university leading with excellence at scale. Ranked among top 10 public universities in the United States, Purdue discovers, disseminates and deploys knowledge with a quality and at a scale second to none. More than 107,000 students study at Purdue across multiple campuses, locations and modalities, including more than 58,000 at our main campus in West Lafayette and Indianapolis. Committed to affordability and accessibility, Purdue’s main campus has frozen tuition 13 years in a row. See how Purdue never stops in the persistent pursuit of the next giant leap — including its comprehensive urban expansion, the Mitch Daniels School of Business, Purdue Computes and the One Health initiative — at https://www.purdue.edu/president/strategic-initiatives.

Media contact: Lindsey Macdonald, macdonl@purdue.edu

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