The US Air Force has completed testing of its hypersonic AGM-183A Air-launched Rapid Response Weapon. The test was carried out on March 17, 2024 when the missile was dropped from a B-52H Stratofortress at the Reagan Test Site in the Marshall Islands.
With their ability to penetrate conventional air defenses, hypersonic weapons traveling at over five times the speed of sound promise to revolutionize warfare in a way not seen since the invention of the jet engine. They've been something of an embarrassment for the United States, though – because the world's only superpower doesn't have a hypersonic missile while Russia and China have already deployed their own versions.
This sting has been softened by the lack of effectiveness of Russia's hypersonic attacks in Ukraine since its 2022 invasion. However, there is a good deal of pressure on America's two competing defense contractors to come up with something beyond research prototypes.
The latest and final flight of the hypersonic missile built by Lockheed Martin was an end-to-end flight test. The Air Force has not said whether the test was successful or what its objectives were, however, a spokesman told Defense News that valuable data was acquired and has improved the ability to evaluate hypersonic capabilities for further development.
No more tests of the AGM-183A ARRW are planned and no funds have been requested from Congress for such testing. In light of the importance of hypersonic weapons to future US defense policies, this very likely means that the program will shift toward developing a production missile for deployment after deciding on its desired capabilities.
"Following the recent end-to-end flight test, Lockheed Martin has completed the test program with full confidence in ARRW’s revolutionary capabilities, and we stand ready to deliver this fully-qualified, hypersonic solution to the U.S. Air Force," said Lockheed Martin in a statement. "Building on ARRW’s industry-leading technology and testing success, Lockheed Martin can quickly deliver additional hypersonic-strike assets that can be rapidly deployed to the U.S. military."
Source: US Air Force