The US Air Force announced the successful test of the AGM-183A hypersonic missile
In the USA, the AGM-183A hypersonic missile was successfully tested as part of the ARRW program. While the Pentagon is testing the development partially, checking the operation of the launch vehicle, without directing the warhead to any targets. Prior to that, the program was plagued by failures, such tests were not recognized as successful for more than a year.
The US Air Force said it had successfully tested a weapon whose speed is five times the speed of sound, Reuters reports.
The tests took place on Saturday at the Edwards Military Airbase off the coast of California as part of the ARRW program. During testing, the B-52H bomber launched the AGM-183A hypersonic launch vehicle.
Rockets are considered hypersonic if they move at least five times faster than sound (6120 km/h).
The military did not disclose any details, such as the duration of the flight or its altitude.
The head of the Air Force program, General Heath Collins, called the test "a great achievement." The US Air Force noted that "the test was conducted flawlessly," and the Pentagon is "doing everything possible to provide this unique weapon to American servicemen as soon as possible."
Before that, the development was plagued by failures. The rocket failed three flight tests, they have been running since the spring of 2021. For the first time, in April 2021, the rocket failed to launch from a bomber. During the second attempt in July last year, the rocket was able to separate from the bomber, but its engine did not turn on. The third attempt was in December, the launch failed due to an "unknown problem". The rocket, as in the first case, could not separate from the bomber.
The failures led to the fact that the Air Force cut funds for the purchase of missiles from its budget applications for 2022 and 2023. At the same time, the Pentagon believes that hypersonic missiles of this type are easier to develop and operate.
ARRW (Air-Launched Rapid Response Weapon) is designed to defeat both land targets and ships. According to The Drive publication, the rocket consists of a solid-fuel accelerator with a retractable tail and a gliding combat unit (without an engine).
The system works like this - the plane drops the launch vehicle, after which it accelerates to hypersonic speed and rises high into the atmosphere. Then the warhead separates from the missile and flies at hypersonic speed to the programmed point along a ballistic trajectory.
The advantage of hypersonic missiles, in addition to their speed, is greater maneuverability. They are flying along a trajectory that is difficult to predict. In addition, hypersonic missiles can use a homing system and hit even the target that managed to partially change its position during the flight of the rocket.
The creation of the US own hypersonic missile in May 2020 was announced by then-President Donald Trump.
According to him, this missile will be 17 times faster than the rocket, which is now considered the fastest in the world, and will be able to hit targets at a distance of 1.6 thousand km. Trump did not specify what kind of development he was talking about.
There were versions in the media that the "super-duper rocket" that Trump was talking about was the AGM-183A.
In addition to the United States, China and Russia are creating hypersonic weapons. China first tested a hypersonic missile in 2014, and Russia in 2016.
Recently, Russia demonstrated hypersonic weapons in practice during a military special operation in Ukraine. The Russian Defense Ministry said that the military used the Dagger complex and destroyed with hypersonic aeroballistic missiles "a large underground warehouse of missiles and aviation ammunition of Ukrainian troops in the village of Delyatin in the Ivano-Frankivsk region." According to the representative of the Ministry of Defense Igor Konashenkov, the "Dagger" was fired from a distance of more than a thousand kilometers, which it covered in less than 10 minutes.
Anna Gromova