US conducts full-scale hypersonic missile test

The US Army has announced a successful end-to-end flight test of its hypersonic missile, bringing the initial fielding of the system closer.

“We’re very close,” Lt. Gen. Robert Rasch, director of the Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office, stated at the Space and Missile Defense Symposium. “I’m incredibly proud of the team because this is a crucial capability”, Caliber.Az reports citing the foreign media.

However, Rasch emphasized that further testing is needed before any decision is made on deploying the ground-launched hypersonic missile. “We must ensure this capability works reliably. If we decide to implement it, it will be for serious, strategic reasons, and we need it to be dependable,” he said.

The recent flight test of the industry-manufactured missile, conducted at the Pacific Missile Range Facility in Hawaii in May, followed several failed or aborted tests of the Common Hypersonic Glide Body (C-HGB). This test is part of a joint US Navy and Army development program.

Hypersonic weapons, capable of traveling at speeds exceeding Mach 5 (over 3,836 miles per hour), can maneuver at various altitudes, making them challenging to detect. The C-HGB integrates the warhead, guidance system, cabling, and thermal protection shield.

The US is racing to develop hypersonic capabilities and defense systems, with China and Russia also advancing their own hypersonic weapons.

Missile development programs typically span about 10 years, Lt. Gen. Robert Rasch noted, and while the fielding of hypersonic missiles has been delayed by over a year, the Long-Range Hypersonic Weapon program is still at its five-year mark.

The Army has collaborated with Leidos’ Dynetics for years to build the industrial base for the Common Hypersonic Glide Body (C-HGB), which will be used by both the Army and Navy. This marks a significant milestone as the domestic private sector has yet to produce a hypersonic weapon.

Additionally, the Army has developed the necessary infrastructure, including launchers, trucks, trailers, and a battle operations center for the first weapon battery. Lockheed Martin is the weapon system integrator for the Army’s hypersonic capability, which will be launched from a mobile truck.

The Army delivered its first hypersonic weapon capability—excluding the all-up rounds—to the 5th Battalion, 3rd Field Artillery Regiment, 17th Field Artillery Brigade at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington two days ahead of its end-of-fiscal-2021 deadline. Originally, the plan was to train on the equipment and receive the rounds by fall 2023. However, this timeline has been pushed back due to a series of failed or aborted tests.