Small Business Innovation for
Moving the Needle
JHTO is interested in reviewing White Papers that contribute to improved performance, reliability, manufacturability, and affordability for hypersonic systems in the technical areas listed below through both hardware and software solutions. White Papers (due January 26th) should show a realistic path to implementation, including integration and scalability, and be achievable with approximately $1M of funding. This opportunity is for UCAH Members.
JHTO Established October 2020
The Department of Defense established its Joint Hypersonics Transition Office (JHTO) Systems Engineering Field Activity at the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane Division (NSWC Crane) in October 2020. Through this partnership, located in Crane, Indiana, the Department can leverage the growing suite of government, industry, and academic leaders associated with NSWC Crane. NSWC Crane has previously received recent DoD hypersonics awards to advance testing, verification and validation capabilities. This includes $150 million in unique capabilities such as an underwater launch test complex, a missile technology evaluation facility, an integrated Hardware-in-the-Loop (HWIL) / Software-in-the-Loop (SWIL) test bed, and a Modeling & Simulation lab. More than three hundred people at Crane are working to advance hypersonic technologies and the enabling capabilities to make them possible.
The JHTO, headquartered at the Pentagon, was established by Congressional direction and its authorities were renewed in the Fiscal Year 2020 National Defense Authorization Act. The JHTO is responsible for creating strategies and roadmaps to develop hypersonic technologies and transition them to operational capabilities, for coordinating with foreign allies and partners, and for bolstering the hypersonics workforce. Additionally, it is establishing a university consortium for applied hypersonics to leverage the nation’s academic community towards hypersonics-related research and workforce development.
JHTO Field Activity
The JHTO Systems Engineering Field Activity at Crane performs detailed engineering activities to help execute the JHTO’s mandate. The Field Activity will coordinate architectures, interfaces, schedules, and plans to transition a more modular, affordable, and upgradable hypersonics portfolio of capabilities and technologies. The Systems Engineering Field Activity has four engineering focus areas: System Architectures and Guidelines, Science & Technology Management, Transition Management, and Modeling and Simulation. The Field Activity will also execute some workforce development initiatives, including sponsored research, curriculum development, and engagements with industry to create a growing pipeline of highly technical talent to enter the hypersonics workforce.