US fires off hypersonic missile test amid pressure from China, Russia

In what may be the weapon’s final test, the U.S. Air Force fired a Lockheed Martin Air-Launched Rapid Response Weapon from a B-52 Bomber on Sunday, March 17. The test happened over the Pacific near Guam. So far, the Air Force is being tight-lipped on how fast this version of a hypersonic missile flew.

Based off previous tests, the missile should be capable of reaching speeds five times the speed of sound. Despite staying quiet on the details, the Air Force contends that the latest test provided it with valuable data to analyze and will reportedly further hypersonic weapons research.

The Air Force maintains that the missile test was successful. However, the future of the Air Force’s hypersonic attack missile is a little uncertain. The Air Force’s proposed fiscal year 2025 budget requested $517 million to keep developing the weapon, but no funds to actually purchase any.

The Air Force stated that a final decision on the future of the Air-Launched Rapid Response Weapon will be based on the latest test flight.

Hypersonic missiles are important for the U.S. For starters, China and Russia have hypersonic missiles, and the U.S. doesn’t, which is a capability gap for the U.S. military.

As far as the actual missiles themselves, hypersonic missiles can be launched far enough away that enemy radar won’t see the launch. Hypersonic missiles also travel at speeds of at least Mach 5 or five times the speed of sound. Some missiles have reportedly reached speeds of Mach 8.

In 2017, Moscow reportedly added the Kinzhal Missile to its arsenal, and Russia became the first nation ever to use hypersonic weapons in war when it launched them at Ukraine. However, U.S. Patriot Missile batteries were able to defend against them.

Russia got started on its hypersonic program through Soviet-era research, which started in the early 2000s. The research began after the U.S. scrapped a 1972 anti-ballistic missile treaty, which limited Moscow’s production of anti-ballistic missiles, in an effort to stop the Cold War arms race.

In 2019, China unveiled the DF-ZF Hypersonic Glide Vehicle. These types of weapons help contribute to China being labeled as the primary threat to maritime security in the Pacific.