HIFiRE 4: A low-Cost Aerodynamics, Stability, and Control Hypersonic Flight Experiment

The Hypersonic International Flight Research and Experimentation (HIFiRE) program is a joint effort between the United States Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) and the Australian Defence Science and Technology Organisation (DSTO). Boeing is an industrial partner in the HIFiRE program, having joint responsibility with DSTO for three flight experiment payloads (numbers four, seven, and eight). The overall objective of the HIFiRE program is to gather fundamental scientific and engineering data on the physics and technologies critical to future operational hypersonic flight by conducting several flight experiments using a relatively low cost sounding rocket based flight test technique advanced by the co-authors from DSTO. The specific objective of HIFiRE flight experiment number four (HIFiRE 4), the subject of this paper, is to gather flight data on the aerodynamics, stability, and control of an advanced waverider configuration. This flight is also a precursor to HIFiRE flight experiment number eight (HIFiRE 8), which will integrate an advanced three-dimensional scramjet engine with the HIFiRE 4 airframe to flight test the combined aero-propulsive configuration. Discussed is the design and performance of HIFiRE 4, with emphasis given to vehicle guidance and control.