ARRW AUR successfully completed flight test
This latest successful flight test proves the Air Launched Rapid Response Weapon (ARRW) design and demonstrates its hypersonic capability. Video courtesy of Lockheed Martin.
The Air Force successfully test-launched an air-to-ground hypersonic missile that reached five times the speed of sound in a test off the coast of Southern California, officials said Monday.
Friday’s test of the versatile AGM-183A air-launched rapid response weapon was the first launch of a fully prototype operational missile, the Air Force said in a press release.
The missile was ejected from a B-52H Stratofortress and detonated in the terminal area, indicating “all targets accomplished.”
“The ARRW team has successfully designed and tested an air-launched hypersonic missile in five years,” said Brig. General Jason Bartolomei, program executive director of the Armaments Department, said. “I am extremely proud of the determination and dedication this team has shown to deliver a vital capability to our warfighter.”
The 412th Test Wing at Edwards AFB, California, conducted the ARRW test flight, officials said.
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A missile fired from a B-52H Stratofortress off the coast of Southern California, Dec. 9, 2022.
(Lockheed Martin)
According to the release, the ARRW is designed to “enable the United States to sustain persistent, high-value, time-sensitive targets at risk in a contested environment.”
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A U.S. Air Force B-52H Stratofortress bomber assigned to the 307th Bomb Wing undergoes an engine check June 24, 2021 at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana.
(US Air Force photo by Senior Airman Kate Bragg)
In October, the US Army and the US Navy During tests at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia, they gathered information about their hypersonic rocket program.
The U.S. Department of Defense prepares to launch a sonic rocket from NASA’s launch site on Oct. 26, 2022, at the Wallops Flight Facility, a hypersonic weapons testing facility on Wallops Island, Virginia, USA.
(REUTERS/Evelyn Hochstein)
US Army aims to have an offensive hypersonic strike capability by next year. The Missile Defense Agency is also involved in tests to develop countermeasures against enemy hypersonic weapons.
Fox News’ Paul Best contributed to this report.