The United States tested a hypersonic missile that reached 5 times the speed of sound

The United States tested an air-breathing hypersonic weapon capable of reaching speeds faster than five times the speed of sound, marking the first successful test of this class of weapons since 2013, the Pentagon announced on Monday.

The test came amid an offer by the United States and its global rivals to step up their pace to build hypersonic weapons, lThe next generation of weapons that rob opponents of traditional reaction time and defeat mechanisms.

In July, Russia says it has successfully tested Tsirkon (Zircon) hypersonic cruise missile, a weapon that President Vladimir Putin has touted as part of a new generation of missile systems unrivaled in the world.

The hypersonic respiratory weapon concept (HAWC) free-flight test took place last week, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA, said in a statement.

“This brings us one step closer to HAWC’s transition to a recording program that offers next-generation capabilities for the US military.”said Andrew Knoedler, HAWC program director at DARPA’s office of tactical technology.

There is no deadline for this transition, but Knoedler told Reuters that “We are preparing our next vehicles and are working to conduct additional flight tests later in the year.”

Hypersonic weapons travel through the upper atmosphere at speeds more than five times the speed of sound, or about 6,200 kilometers (3,853 miles) per hour.

“The missile, built by Raytheon Technologies, was launched from an aircraft seconds before the launch of its Northrop Grumman scramjet (supersonic combustion ramjet) engine.” said DARPA.

“The DoD (Department of Defense) has identified hypersonic weapons and anti-hypersonic capabilities as the highest technical priorities for the security of our nation,” said Wes Kremer, president of Raytheon’s Missile and Defense business unit.

“The United States and our allies must have the ability to deter the use of these weapons and the ability to defeat them.”added.

According to Tom Karako, an analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, investments in hypersonic weapons have started to pay off and respond to progress made on the issue by countries like Russia and China.

In 2019, Raytheon partnered with Northrop Grumman to develop and produce motors for hypersonic weapons. Northrop’s scramjet engine technology uses the vehicle’s high speed to forcefully compress incoming air before combustion to enable sustained flight at hypersonic speeds.

“The HAWC vehicle performs best in an oxygen-rich atmosphere, where speed and handling make it difficult to detect in a timely manner. It could hit targets much faster than subsonic missiles and has significant kinetic energy even without high explosives. “DARPA said in a statement.

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