The airborne rapid reaction weapon was successfully fired from a B-52H bomber off shore of Southern California on Saturday and reached hypersonic speed, Air Force announced on Monday without letting anyone out more details about test yourself, e.g. duration of flight or altitude.
“This has been a great achievement for ARRW. team, for arms factory and our Air Force,” said Brigadier General Heath Collins, head of the Air Force. program Executive Director for weapon.
ARRW is a hypersonic weapon that uses a booster rocket to propel the rocket to speed. in excess of Mach 5 or five times in speed of sound. hypersonic glide vehicle then separates from the booster and glides at high speed. speed to your goal.
The day before, test Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall admitted problems what ARW program faced.
” program were not successful in research and development until now,” Kendall told the House Appropriations Subcommittee. on Defense. “We want see proof of success before we do decision about commitment to production, so we’re going to wait and see.”
The Pentagon is focusing on on hypersonic weapons development after legislators became concerned that the US is falling behind Chinese and Russian programs. Last yearChina successfully tested a hypersonic weapon that circled the globe before hitting its target. More recently, Russia has become first nation ever use hypersonic weapons in war when it launched its Iskander and Kinzhal missiles into Ukraine. The Pentagon said that since the beginning of the year, Russia has used 10 to 12 hypersonic weapons. of This invasion of Ukraine.
HAWC was launched from a B-52 bomber. off West Coast in in first successful test of Lockheed Martin system. The accelerating engine accelerated the rocket to high speeds at that moment air- Breathing scramjet caught fire and dispersed the rocket to hypersonic speed of Mach 5 and above.
test came a few days after Russia says he used his own hypersonic missile during his invasion of Ukraine claiming to have targeted the munition warehouse in western Ukraine.
Even with increased focus on hypersonic weapons, air force secretary insisted on a note of caution about their importance.
“What we want look at what’s most cost effective combination of weapons,” Kendall told lawmakers. – Of course there is role for hypersound in then and we need invest in this and buy them in some quantities, but there is still an open question in my mind on what’s the most cost effective combination.
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