On Monday, the Atlanta-based aerospace company Hermeus confirmed a key flight milestone after its Quarterhorse Mk 2.1 aircraft broke the sound barrier during testing in New Mexico. The uncrewed plane reached Mach 1.21 on its third flight, which took place at Spaceport America in the restricted airspace above White Sands Missile Range. Mk 2.1 achieved supersonic performance less than three months after its first flight in early March. It also comes just 364 days after the maiden flight of the original Mk 1. Hermeus described the mission as the first supersonic flight for a privately developed uncrewed aircraft of its kind. The test happened during the plane’s third flight, when it moved from subsonic to supersonic speeds in controlled airspace over New Mexico.

“This flight demonstrates a pace of execution that is extremely rare in modern aviation,” stated AJ Piplica, co-founder and outgoing CEO of Hermeus. “Our country’s ability to deliver new asymmetric military capability at scale depends on teams that can solve hard technical challenges quickly. That’s exactly what we’re proving with each test flight we conduct and each new aircraft we build at Hermeus.”

Full report : Hermeus Quarterhorse Mk 2.1 breaks sound barrier for the first time.

For more see the OODA Company Profile on Hermeus.