The IHAT System is a tool suite for configuration optimization of high speed airbreathing flight vehicles currently under development. The focus of the System is on high speed tactical weapons (Mach 4-8 regime) with relatively long range. The hypersonic flight regime of the weapons results in unique requirements for the analysis, design, and optimization tool suite. Due to the highly integrated nature of the configurations, traditional “stovepipe” design methods have not been successful in defining a viable configuration for this type of mission. It is expected that an integrated system-level approach to the analysis and optimization of the entire vehicle will allow interactions between the disciplines to be understood and exploited.

The IHAT System is an effort to provide such an integrated analysis/optimization toolset. This paper is a follow-on to other publications about the IHAT system, and focuses on recent experiences in applying different optimization strategies in the IHAT system, including direct vs. surrogate-based optimization and serial vs. parallel processing.