A B-52 bomber launched the weapon off the coast of California on Saturday, and it blew at a breakneck pace five times the speed of sound, according to the Air Force, which did not reveal details about the height or flight duration of the test.
“This was a major accomplishment by the ARROW team, for the weapons enterprise, and our Air Force,” Brig. Gen. Heath Collins, Air Force program executive officer for weapons, declared. “The team’s tenacity, expertise, and commitment were key in overcoming the past year’s challenges to get us to the recent success. We are ready to build on what we’ve learned and continue moving hypersonics forward.”
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Hypersonic missiles move faster than Mach 5, or five times the speed of sound, meaning they can move faster than most missile defense systems, earning predictions from military analysts that the technology could be a “game-changer.”
In recent years, adversarial nations such as Russia, China, and North Korea have claimed to have successfully conducted hypersonic missile tests. Experts have cast doubt on some of the claims from North Korea, but the prospect of rival nations achieving hypersonic missile capability has shocked Washington, D.C. Experts generally believe China and Russia have made significant strides in hypersonic missile development.
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The U.S. hypersonic missile tested Saturday, named the Air-launched Rapid Response Weapon, has been marred by a few setbacks and delays. Last month, the Air Force announced it was delaying its schedule for the program due to “recent flight test anomalies,” CNN reported. The test on Saturday was flawless, according to Lt. Col. Michael Jungquist, director of the 419th Flight Test Squadron and the Global Power Bomber Combined Test Force.
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“The test team made sure we executed this test flawlessly,” Jungquist said. “Our highly-skilled team made history on this first air-launched hypersonic weapon. We’re doing everything we can to get this game-changing weapon to the warfighter as soon as possible.”
The United States previously had a successful test of the Hypersonic Air-breathing Weapon Concept in March but refrained from praising the accomplishment publicly due to the war in Ukraine and President Joe Biden’s planned trip to Europe, CNN reported .
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Last week, Russia fired three hypersonic missiles in Odesa, a Ukrainian port city, Ukrainian officials claimed. The U.S. previously confirmed Russia deployed hypersonic missiles against its neighbor in March, signaling the first time the novelty weapon has been deployed in combat.
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