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The US Air Force successfully launched a hypersonic weapon off the coast of California this weekend, which flew at five times the speed of sound, a spokesperson said.
“Our highly skilled team made history with this first air-launched hypersonic weapon,” said Lt. Col. Michael Jungquist, director of the 419 Flight Test Squadron and Global Power Bomber Combined Test Force, who ran the test.
UNVACCINED AIR FORCE CADETS CANNOT GRADUATE OR BE COMMISSIONED
An A-10 Warthog pilot taxis to the flight line before takeoff at an air base March 16, 2003 in the Persian Gulf near the Iraqi border.
(Photo by Paula Bronstein/Getty Images)
“We are doing everything we can to get the fighter this game-changing weapon as soon as possible,” added Jungquist.
Brig. Gen. Heath Collins, the program’s general manager for weapons, celebrated the “major achievement” after a B-52H Stratofortress launched an AGM-183A Air-Launched Rapid Response Weapon (ARRW) at Air Force Base on Saturday. ‘Edwards, California.
SEXUAL MISCONDUCT CONVICTED IN FIRST-EVER AIR FORCE MAJOR GENERAL TRIAL
This image shows the launch of the experimental X-43A scramjet and its attached booster rocket as it launches from a modified NASA B-52 bomber (NOT PICTURED) at 40,000 feet (13,000 meters) over the Pacific Ocean off California, March 27, 2004.
(ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images)
“This was a major accomplishment for the ARRW team, for the arms company and our Air Force,” Collins said. “The tenacity, expertise and commitment of the team have been essential in overcoming the challenges of the past year and leading us to recent success. We are ready to build on what we have learned and continue to advancing the hypersonic.”
The ARRW reached five times the speed of sound and burned for its expected duration, the official said.
US Air Force personnel and their families stationed at Royal Air Force Mildenhall in Suffolk, England on June 9, 2021.
(Photo by BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images)
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The new weapon will expand precision strike capabilities, especially against heavily defended ground targets.
