Leading South Australian aerospace composite manufacturer Airspeed has successfully completed its first captive carry flight test of a supersonic target prototype onboard its Marchetti S211 R&D platform.

The company, based at Mawson Lakes, recently celebrated the project milestone, in a major step towards strengthening Australia’s sovereign aerospace capability.

The team at Airspeed have been developing the customised prototype – known as Irukandji – which is powered by a solid rocket motor. It uses a variant of the 10-inch filament-wound cases the company already manufacturers for the Defence Science and Technology Group (DSTG) and Thales Australia.

The prototype is aerodynamically similar to the now-retired AQM-37 supersonic target which was used to replicate air-to-air and air-to-surface threats until 2022.

Irukandji will undergo further flight testing in 2025 to gather performance data and refine the aerodynamic model. Airspeed will also engage Defence about conducting flight tests at the Woomera Test Range using unpowered glide vehicles to validate system flight characteristics and guidance capabilities.

Airspeed’s related work in solid rocket motors will continue in 2025. This will include further work on filament-wound carbon fibre rocket motor cases of varying diameter, and quantifying workforce and expansion needs to support future sovereign manufacture of the solid rocket motors.