Both the Army and the Navy are celebrating a successful end-to-end flight test of a conventional hypersonic missile known as the All Up Round.
The launch from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station earlier this month was the first live-fire event for the Long-Range Hypersonic Weapon system using a Battery Operations Center and a Transporter Erector Launcher.
This test builds on several flight tests in which the Common Hypersonic Glide Body achieved hypersonic speed at target distances and demonstrates that we can put this capability in the hands of the warfighter,” said Army Secretary Christine Wormuth.
A US defense official told Newsweek the launch was a major step forward toward the first operational deployment of the weapon.
Hypersonic weapons are defined as those capable of flying at speeds greater than Mach 5 (roughly 3,836 miles per hour). Combined with their maneuverability, they are highly survivable when attacking heavily-defended targets.
In additional to the All Up Round weapon, the US is teaming up with the UK and Australia to develop hypersonic missiles for submarines. It’s part of the trilateral AUKUS defense agreement.
The US has more of a sense of urgency now when it comes to hypersonic weapons, no doubt due to accomplishments by Russia and China in the field.
