There is a general consensus that only a small fraction of the matter and energy in the universe has been detected (about 5%), the rest being dark matter (about 27%) and dark energy (about 68%). Elucidating the nature and properties of such objects is one of the greatest challenges in physics. In general, dark matter (e.g. Weakly Interacting Massive Particles, WIMPs) is thought to consist of particles that "floods" galactic halos - and hence the Milky Way. Therefore, in principle, it can in principle be detected in laboratory experiments. This work will build on our recent theoretical and experimental developments of an apparatus, called a haloscope, designed to detect axions, prominent candidates of dark matter. We will develop a full data taking setup able to probe the benchmark models for QCD axions on a mass range more than two orders of magnitude larger than the state of the art. This will enable a full test of the axion paradigm in the high mass range which should become one of the most stringent experimental constraints for dark matter models.