The US Air Force announced last night that it “successfully” tested a hypersonic missile off the coast of Southern California on Tuesday after three previous failures, amid growing tension over Russia’s military development and China.
“This was another significant milestone for the Air Force’s first air-launched hypersonic weapon,” said Brigadier General Heath Collins, executive director of the program. The test was carried out in collaboration with the company Lockheed Martin. The three previous failures had buried Washington’s plans to announce production of the missile later this year.
This Air-Launched Rapid Response Weapon (ARRW) is designed to destroy sensitive targets and allows to extend the capabilities of precision strike systems against heavily defended ground targets.