US hypersonic missile successful in flight test, DARPA says

INA-  sources

The US recently completed a successful “free flight” test of a hypersonic missile, according to the Pentagon, but reportedly kept the test quiet in an effort to avoid escalation with Russia over Ukraine.
 
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) announced the test today, calling it the “second successful flight in DARPA’s HAWC [Hypersonic Air-breathing Weapon Concept] program.”
 
“This Lockheed Martin HAWC flight test successfully demonstrated a second design that will allow our warfighters to competitively select the right capabilities to dominate the battlefield,” Andrew “Tippy” Knoedler, HAWC program manager in DARPA’s Tactical Technology Office, said in a DARPA release. DARPA is partnered with the Air Force on the HAWC program. “These achievements increase the level of technical maturity for transitioning HAWC to a service program of record.”
 
Lockheed’s free light test was supposed to happen in late 2020, but was delayed due to technical issues. Raytheon’s competing version of the HAWC system was successfully tested in September 2021.
 
According to DARPA, in the new test the missile was released from a “carrier aircraft,” was boosted by a scramjet engine and then “quickly accelerated to and maintained cruise faster than Mach 5 (five times the speed of sound) for an extended period of time. The vehicle reached altitudes greater than 65,000 feet and flew for more than 300 nautical miles.”
 
The DARPA announcement came hours after CNN reported the successful test, saying it took place in mid-March but that the Biden administration kept it quiet to avoid sending an escalatory signal to Russia.