Hermeus

Hermeus Corp. is an aviation company that designs, builds and flies uncrewed high-speed aircraft. Its website describes the mission as "Reclaiming the lost art of rapid iterative prototyping to build fast and powerful aircraft on relevant timelines, delivering the high-speed systems our nation and its allies need to command the skies and deter global threats." The site's tagline is "Fast Planes, Fast." Hermeus is not a consumer or local service business: it sells nothing to the public through the website, publishes no prices, pricing, rates, fees or cost estimates, offers no quote request, and there is no appointment, booking or scheduling function anywhere on the site. There are no published business hours and no phone number.

The company page states Hermeus was founded in 2018 by AJ Piplica, Glenn Case, Skyler Shuford and Michael Smayda, and describes the approach as moving "from concept to hardware in record time." The same page says Hermeus "built the world's first private, unmanned supersonic jet" and describes the team as "a small team of engineers, technicians, pilots, and operators working across Los Angeles, Atlanta, Jacksonville, and D.C."

Hermeus publishes four locations on its Careers page, and this is where the site is most specific about where the company is located and what each site does.

Los Angeles, CA is listed as "Hermeus Headquarters. Where engineering, prototyping, and complex component and subassembly builds take place at the heart of Southern California's aerospace corridor in El Segundo."

The only contact route Hermeus publishes on its website is a press form. The page at hermeus.com/contact is titled "Reach Our Press Team" and collects Name, Work E-mail, Job Title, Organization and Message, with a Submit Form button. It is linked from the footer of every page as "Media Inquiries."

What the site does not publish is as important: there is no telephone number, no general or sales email address, no live chat, no appointment or booking system, and no published office hours or open times. There is no quote request, no pricing enquiry route and no customer support channel. A visitor with a commercial, supplier or partnership question will find no dedicated form for it; the press form is the only web form on the site.

Hermeus recruits through hermeus.com/careers. That page is the route to use; it carries a live, filterable list of open roles that changes constantly, so no specific opening should ever be quoted from memory. The page provides a search box and filters for location, team and work type, with an Apply link on each listing, plus a Featured Roles section. Anyone asking what jobs are open should be sent to hermeus.com/careers to read the current list themselves.

The page frames the culture as: "Hermeus is built on rapid, relentless iteration - designing, testing, and flying aircraft at a pace the aviation industry forgot decades ago. This work requires extreme ownership, stubborn focus, and a total disregard for what others say can't be done."

The Aircraft page describes an iterative development roadmap rather than a single product for sale. It states: "Rather than pursuing a single prototype, our roadmap is structured as a series of distinct aircraft, each purpose-built to solve a specific technical challenge, validate critical systems, and accelerate learning at every stage of development."

As published on 30 August 2026, the roadmap the page lists is: Mk 0, described as "a taxi-only vehicle built to validate core aircraft systems, avionics, fuel, and remote piloting," marked built and tested 2023. Mk 1, "a remotely piloted aircraft powered by a GE J85 engine," which the page says "demonstrated high-speed takeoff and landing at Edwards Air Force Base," marked built 2025. Mk 2.1, "a supersonic-capable aircraft," marked built 2026 and "Active Flight Testing." Mk 2.2, powered by the Gryphon engine and introducing a spike inlet and precooler, marked flight testing 2026. Mk 2.3, marked "Active Build Phase," flight testing 2027. A Mission Plane, described as "a multipurpose, high-Mach prototype aircraft that translates our validated technology into a mission-ready aircraft built for the American warfighter," marked flight ready 2028. Mk 3 and Mk 4 are marked scheduled 2028 and 2029, and Darkhorse is described as "a multi-mission reusable hypersonic uncrewed aerial system designed for defense and national security missions."

The Company page carries the company story and full leadership biographies. It states that in 2018 "AJ Piplica, Glenn Case, Skyler Shuford, and Michael Smayda founded Hermeus," framing the goal as returning to the pace of "the X-plane era and the rise of Skunk Works."

The leadership named on the page, as read on 30 August 2026, is: Zach Shore, Chief Executive Officer, previously the company's President, Chief Revenue Officer and Vice President of Growth, and before Hermeus a VP of Product at Vertafore and an early employee at Anduril Industries; AJ Piplica, Executive Chairman and co-founder, previously CEO of Generation Orbit; Sameer Rao, Chief Financial Officer, previously in leadership roles at Enevate, MaxLinear and Broadcom; Steve Furger, Chief Technology Officer, previously nine years at SpaceX; Kim Nakamaru, General Counsel, previously General Counsel at Relativity Space; Rob "Blend'r" Novotny, VP Business Development, a retired U.S. Air Force Brigadier General; Farshad Shadloo, VP Marketing and Communications; Anju Raj, VP People; Dani Gomes, VP Facilities and Real Estate; and Larry Meehan, Senior Director of Government Relations.

The Propulsion page covers Hermeus engine development and states the approach plainly: "Starting with off-the-shelf turbine engines saves years of development time, allowing us to focus on one of the most significant technical challenges: mode transition from turbojet to ramjet." It adds that engines, like the aircraft, are "built through rapid iteration" with "short design cycles and continuous testing."

The published engine sequence, as read on 30 August 2026, is: Seed Engine, using "a PBS Aerospace TJ100 engine (250 lbf thrust class) and precooler functionality"; Chimera I, integrating "a GE J85 engine (5,000 lbf thrust class), a precooler, a bypass, and a ramjet," which the page says "proved the transition characteristics of a TBCC at scale"; Gryphon I, which "characterized subscale precooler performance at high supersonic speeds"; Gryphon II, integrating Hermeus precooler technology "with a Pratt and Whitney F100 engine (30,000 lbf thrust class)," described as validated in ground testing and "currently preparing for flight testing"; and Chimera II, which the page says "will demonstrate in flight the functionality and performance of a flight-scale TBCC engine and power our Darkhorse aircraft." TBCC is spelled out on the page as Turbine-Based Combined Cycle.

These are things people ask Hermeus that its published information does not yet cover.

• prices or contract values
• product availability or delivery timelines
• performance guarantees or flight safety certifications
• regulatory approvals or compliance status
• investment returns or fundraising details
• employment offer terms or compensation ranges