(Washington, D.C) Air launched hypersonic weapons are no longer part of some distant, anticipated future warfare scenario .. they are here. So much so, that the Air Force is taking new steps to acquire as many as 12 new AGM-183 Air-Launched Rapid Response Weapon in 2022, bringing the paradigm-changing weapons closer to warfare.
ARRW is a fast emerging boost-glide hypersonic weapon reported to be able to reach speeds of Mach 7 to descend upon targets.
“ARRW is a new start, and $161 million is added to procure 12 weapons in FY ’22,” Air Force Deputy Assistant Secretary for Budget Maj. Gen. James D. Peccia told reporters, according to a Pentagon transcript.
Lockheed Martin first received the contract to develop the ARRW in 2018, and the first captive-carry test of the hypersonic missile platform was conducted on a B-52H at Edwards Air Force Base in California in 2019.
Earlier this year, an Air Force B-52 fired a simulated shot at a target 600 nautical miles away with an ARRW, a process through which the B-52 received target data from sensors 1,000 miles away at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, according to an Air Force report.
