On July 12, the US Air Force successfully tested a hypersonic missile from Lockheed Martin.
This was reported by Reuters with reference to its sources.
According to their data, on Tuesday, July 12, the US Air Force successfully tested an ARRW hypersonic air-launched missile off the coast of California.
Before launch, the ARRW rises into the sky under the wing of the aircraft. During the preliminary tests, the weapon did not detach from the aircraft. The weapon travels in the upper atmosphere at a speed of approximately 6,200 km/h. This is five times the speed of sound.
Reuters sources also reported that the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) recently demonstrated its Operational Fires program.
Operational Fires is a ground-based system that will "rapidly and accurately engage critical time-of-flight targets while penetrating modern enemy air defenses." DARPA received $45 million for this system.
One of Lockheed Martinʼs concepts for the DARPA weapon is to use a High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) launcher similar to those sent to Ukraine to launch it.
According to Reuters, the US fears that Russia and China have made more progress in developing their own hypersonic weapons. Therefore, the manufacturing companies hope to benefit not only through the creation of hypersonic weapons, but also through the development of new mechanisms for their detection and destruction.