Had Failed Three Times, The US Air Force Has Successfully Tested Hypersonic Weapons Using A B-52 Bomber

Illustration of a B-52 H Stratofortress bomber. (Wikimedia Commons/Steve Lynes)

JAKARTA - The United States Air Force announced a successful test launch of a hypersonic weapon, claimed to be capable of flying at up to five times the speed of sound, on Monday.

Conducted off the coast of Southern California on Saturday, the test involved a B-52 bomber releasing an Air-launched Rapid Response Weapon (ARRW), according to the air force.

"After separation from the aircraft, the ARRW booster ignited and burned for the expected duration, reaching hypersonic speeds five times greater than the speed of sound," the air force said.

"This is a major achievement by the ARRW team, for the arms company, and for our Air Force," Brigadier General said. General Heath Collins, the Air Force's program executive officer for weapons, quoted CNN.

ARRW is a hypersonic weapon that uses rocket boosters to accelerate missiles to speeds in excess of Mach 5, or five times the speed of sound. A hypersonic glide vehicle then separates from the booster and glides at high speed toward its target.

Previously, the US Air Force had struggled with testing the AGM-183A ARRW, during which the team had three flight test failures, before finally succeeding.

Last month, the Air Force said a test flight anomaly had pushed back the weapons completion schedule. The first complete tests of the missile and rocket boosters were postponed until sometime in the next fiscal year, starting in October.

The day before the test, Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall acknowledged the problems facing the ARRW program.

"This program has not been successful in research and development so far," Kendall told the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense.

"We want to see evidence of success before we make a decision on a production commitment, so we'll wait and see."

The Pentagon has stepped up its emphasis on developing hypersonic weapons, after lawmakers became concerned that the United States was lagging behind China and Russia's programs.

Last year, China successfully tested a hypersonic weapon that orbited the globe before hitting its target. Meanwhile, Russia became the first country to use hypersonic weapons in war, when it launched Iskander and Kinzhal missiles over Ukraine.

The Pentagon itself says Russia has used between 10-12 hypersonic weapons since the start of its invasion of Ukraine.