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US, Australia Seek HACM For F/A-18 & F-15E Jets, B-52H Bombers To Deter China, Hit “Pricey Targets” With hypersonic competition heating up, the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) is preparing to arm its Boeing F/A-18F Super Hornets with the Hypersonic Attack Cruise Missile (HACM) for a series of scheduled tests in Australia.According to the Department of Defence (DoD) in Canberra, Australia’s contribution to the project may also include the incorporation of HACM all-up rounds (AURs) into the aircraft, Janes reported.A DoD spokesperson informed Janes: “Through the SCIFiRE agreement, the US and Australia continue to collaborate on HACM design and development, including efforts to integrate HACM on RAAF F/A-18F Super Hornets and using Australian test infrastructure for flight tests.”The US Government Accountability Office (GAO) released its annual report on major US military programs last month. The report included new information regarding the test plan and other parts of the HACM program. Raytheon and Northrop Grumman have worked together to develop HACM under contract with the Air Force since 2022.GAO stated that “test range availability and limitations,” which “have been an issue for hypersonic programs” in general, are the primary reason for deploying RAAF Super Hornets to assist in the testing of HACM. According to the watchdog, the flight testing is scheduled to start in October of this year and end in March of 2027.