Hypersonic High-Speed Strike Weapon (HSSW)
ATK is developing a Hypersonic High-Speed Strike Weapon (HSSW) in response to the Department of Defense’s need for a rapid strike weapon.

The design for the HSSW uses ATK’s solid rocket motor capabilities to boost the weapon to Mach 4, where a scramjet engine engages to accelerate to speeds approaching Mach 5. The HSSW can be launched from bombers, fighter jets, submarines, and surface ships.

The scramjet acceleration capability of the HSSW builds on ATK’s success with the X-43A Scramjet, which owns the world speed record for air-breathing powered flight at Mach 10 or nearly 7,000 miles per hour. Flying at half that speed, the HSSW can fly 400 miles in eight minutes. In comparison, a cruise missile flying at a top speed of Mach 0.8 will take an hour to reach the same target.