Sovereign Canadian Hypersonic Infrastructure

Navro Canada's multi-phase ambitious plan is to build an operational Hypersonic Wind Tunnel with Mach 10+ capability within 24 months and scaling to Mach 20–Mach 40 within 5 years (subject to funding).

Canada's operational sovereign capability is yet to reach above Mach 4.25 (the upper limit of the NRC 1.5m Trisonic Wind Tunnel in Ottawa). In contrast, other Five Eyes countries like the United States and also India have been building hypersonic ground-test capability for over 50 years.

Mach 10+ in 24 months
Phase 2 target
Mach 20–40 in 5 years
Phases 3 & 4 target
Mach 4.25 today
Canada's current ceiling
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Section 01 · The Gap

Closing the Canadian hypersonic capability gap.

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Canadian facilities operating sovereign Mach 5+ aerodynamic capability.
Sovereign capability — built domestically
United States
HYPULSE (Purdue) · LENS-XX (CUBRC) · T5 (Caltech)
United Kingdom
T6 Stalker (Oxford)
Australia
X3 / X3R (Queensland)
Germany
HEG (DLR Göttingen)
Japan
HIEST (JAXA Kakuda)
India
DRDO HWT · IIT Kanpur S2 · IISc HST
China
JF-12 · JF-22 (CAS)
Canada
Navro Canada's Hypersonic Test Lab
Section 02 · The Plan

Four phases. Each one earns the next.

Navro aims to close the Canadian hypersonic ground-test gap through four calibrated phases, each subject to funding, regulatory clearance, and customer validation. Capability scales by an order of magnitude per phase. Each phase is independently financeable and calibrated against published comparable global facilities, with the customer relationships and operational evidence of one phase earning the next.

Phase 1 · 3 months
Target Mach 1.5–Mach 2+
Preliminary and detailed engineering design contracts under signed academic partnerships. Regulatory groundwork — Controlled Goods Programme registration, Export Control List classification, ITAR-aware operating posture. Federal-programme engagement with IDEaS Speed Meets Strategy, the Defence Industrial Strategy, and DRDC. The foundation that earns Phase 2.
Phase 2 · 24 months from Phase 1 start
Target Mach 10+ sovereign Canadian capability
Navro aims to deliver Canada's first sovereign operational Mach 10+ shock tunnel, calibrated against the global benchmark facilities (DLR HEG, IEAv T3, Caltech T5, University of Queensland T4). Canadian manufacturing, Canadian operating team, ITAR-aware design. Subject to funding and engineering validation.
Phase 3 · 24 months from Phase 2
Target Mach 20+ — expansion mode capability
Expansion-mode extension or second-site capability targeting Mach 20+ flow regimes for scramjet, hypersonic glide vehicle, and re-entry aerothermodynamic testing. Aligned with the University of Queensland X3 and Purdue HYPULSE capability envelopes. Federal-anchored commercial model. Subject to Phase 2 commissioning and continued funding.
Phase 4 · 24 months from Phase 3
Target Mach 40-class — national-scale flight-equivalent capability
National-scale capability targeting Mach 40-equivalent expansion-tunnel mode, mirroring the Purdue HYPULSE operating envelope. Public-private partnership model. Sovereign Canadian alternative to LENS-XX-class capability. Aspirational and subject to federal partnership, capital commitment, and operational maturity earned through Phases 1 to 3.
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