Quarterhorse Mk 1 uncrewed aircraft flies at Edwards AFB
NewsMay 28, 2025
EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, California. Hermeus completed a flight test of its Quarterhorse Mk 1 uncrewed aircraft, marking a key milestone in its development of high-speed and hypersonic platforms, the company announced in a statement.
The test, conducted at Edwards Air Force Base, focused on validating high-speed takeoff and landing performance of a large uncrewed aircraft, the statement reads. The flight also provided data on aerodynamics, stability and control, propulsion, thermal management, and other subsystems.
Quarterhorse Mk 1 was developed in just over a year, part of Hermeus’ iterative roadmap aimed at accelerating aircraft development by producing and testing successive prototypes. According to the company, this hardware-focused approach supports rapid system validation while training engineering teams through repeated design and test cycles.
The company says lessons learned from Mk 1 are being applied to Quarterhorse Mk 2, a larger supersonic-capable vehicle now under construction in Atlanta. Mk 2 is intended to support high-cadence hypersonic flight testing and enable new operational concepts for uncrewed systems, with a first flight expected later this year.
