US reveals Dark Eagle hypersonic weapon range, speed, strike potential

New information has emerged about the US Army’s Long Range Hypersonic Weapon (LRHW), known as Dark Eagle, following a recent visit to Redstone Arsenal in Alabama by Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth. During the tour, Hegseth formally designated Redstone Arsenal as the new headquarters of US Space Command (SPACECOM), while receiving briefings on several advanced missile programs, including the Army’s first operational hypersonic weapon.

Dark Eagle is a trailer-launched hypersonic boost-glide weapon capable of traveling at speeds in excess of Mach 5 while maneuvering unpredictably through the atmosphere. This flight profile makes it particularly effective against heavily defended, time-sensitive targets such as air defence systems, command-and-control nodes, and sensor networks, according to Defense News.

The weapon represents the first true hypersonic system slated for frontline US Army service, and its missile architecture is also being adopted by the Navy for the sea-launched Intermediate Range Conventional Prompt Strike (IRCPS) program.

During the briefing, Lt. Gen. Francisco Lozano, Director of Hypersonic, Directed Energy, Space and Rapid Acquisition, told Hegseth that Dark Eagle has a 3,500-kilometer range. Media outlets, including C-SPAN, captured the exchange on video. Lozano emphasised the system’s strategic reach, stating that he can hit “mainland China from Guam”, as well as “Moscow from London and Tehran from Qatar.”

These remarks represent the longest official range estimate yet disclosed for Dark Eagle. Previously, Pentagon figures cited a minimum range of 1,725 miles (2,775 kilometers). Based on Lozano’s comments, the system’s reach is now assessed at least 2,175 miles. It remains unclear whether this reflects improvements in the weapon’s performance or whether earlier figures were deliberately conservative, a common practice in missile program disclosures.

Another Army officer at the event told Hegseth that Dark Eagle carries a warhead “under 30 pounds,” a notably small payload for a long-range strike system. The officer explained that the warhead exists primarily to deploy its “projectiles out” and that the weapon can deliver effects over an area roughly equivalent to the parking lot where the briefing took place. Despite the small warhead, Defense News analysis has repeatedly noted that the weapon’s primary destructive power comes from its extreme kinetic energy rather than explosive yield.

The officer also stated that Dark Eagle can traverse its full range in less than 20 minutes, underscoring its value for prompt strike missions.

Warhead lethality has been a concern for Pentagon testers as recently as last year. According to a February Pentagon assessment, earlier tests “did not include operationally representative targets and consequently provided no direct validation of the weapon’s lethal effects.” While arena and sled tests were conducted in FY24, officials noted that results were still being processed.

Despite development delays, the Army planned as of June to declare Dark Eagle operational by the end of Fiscal Year 2025. One battery is already stationed at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, with another expected to arrive later this year.

Production capacity remains limited. An Army officer told Hegseth the current output is one missile per month, with a goal of increasing to two per month, or 24 annually. As Defense News has noted, this has fueled debate over whether Dark Eagle risks becoming a costly “silver bullet” weapon produced in numbers too small to influence a prolonged conflict.

Still, as hypersonic competition with China intensifies, the Pentagon appears increasingly close to fielding a long-awaited capability.

By Sabina Mammadli