US Air Force plans to end Lockheed hypersonic weapon program

The Air Force won’t pursue a hypersonic weapons program under development by Lockheed Martin Corp. as officials signal more support for a different initiative by rival Raytheon Corp.

The Air Force doesn’tLockheed “currently intend to pursue follow-on procurement” of the weapon known as ARRW, though it will conduct two additional flight tests to accumulate important data, Air Force Assistant Secretary for Acquisition Andrew Hunter told a House Armed Services subcommittee on March 29,  Bloomberg reports.

Hunter didn’t say why the Air Force was giving up on the Lockheed program, but it comes days after Bloomberg News reported that a recent test of the ARRW had failed — after a data link to the weapon was lost during flight.

Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall acknowledged to another committee on Tuesday that the test “was not a success,” as the service “did not get the data we needed.”

Kendall said the Air Force was “more committed” to another weapon called the Hypersonic Attack Cruise Missile built by Raytheon, but stopped short of saying the service would end the Lockheed program after prototype testing.