U.S.-based defense technology company Auriga Space announced the completion of the first field test for its Hermes containerized electromagnetic launcher. According to the company, the tests, conducted in the Mojave Desert, involved firing inert projectiles at supersonic speeds to evaluate the system’s viability as a propellant-free, deployable counter-unmanned aerial systems (c-UAS) solution.
Auriga Space press release:
Drone swarms are outpacing the interceptors built to stop them, with replenishment bottlenecked by solid rocket motor production while defenders spend scarce, expensive missiles on targets that cost far less. Today, Auriga Space revealed its alternative solution is getting that much closer to deployment with the completion of the first field test of Hermes: its electromagnetic launcher that fits inside a shipping container and relies on no propellant to accelerate low-cost projectiles for drone intercept.
Hermes packs Auriga’s electromagnetic launch platform, the same core technology already generating revenue from government and commercial customers in its operational Prometheus hypersonic test system, into a 10-foot shipping container. At a remote location in the Mojave Desert’s 100-degree heat, for the first time, the team conducted true launch tests in a realistic field environment.
Hermes completed over a dozen launches at supersonic speeds above Mach 1, proving out the platform’s ability to fire in rapid succession while deployed in the field. The container ran on its own power throughout, drawing on internal batteries recharged by onboard solar, and can support hundreds of launches on a single charge.
“For the first time, we took Hermes out of the lab and deployed it where it will actually be used: on a dirt road, away from existing infrastructure, in real weather conditions,” said Winnie Lai, CEO and Founder of Auriga Space. “The launches completed in Mojave are the first of many to come, proving that the future of air defense can be mobile, logistically unconstrained, and rapidly deployed.”
By relying on electrical rather than chemical energy, Hermes unlocks deep magazines with rapid, repeatable firing of inert and guided munitions at a fraction of traditional cost, without the logistics burden of propellant resupply.
Auriga will run a second field test this fall, carrying the Mojave learnings into a build focused on ruggedizing the system for harsh conditions and adding the ability to aim and reload even faster between firings.
The successful test is the latest in a series of milestones for a company already working under active contracts with the Air Force, Space Force, and Missile Defense Agency (MDA), with Auriga having recently announced hypersonic materials weather effects testing with Axiom Materials as the first customer, added former MDA director Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Henry “Trey” Obering III to its advisory team, and signed a research partnership with the U.S. Army DEVCOM-AC to advance Hermes as an alternative counter-drone solution. Auriga is moving quickly to bring this capability to the field to provide contractors with a lower-cost, reusable solution for counter-UAS, while maturing its electromagnetic launch technology for on-demand propulsion needs across space and defense use cases, including hypersonic testing, orbital launch, and lunar mass drivers.