Master Sgt. John Malloy and Staff Sgt. Jacob Puente secure an ARRW under a B-52H’s wing during August tests at Edwards. The logo on the missile carries the Latin phrase “Celeri Responsio,” or “Rapid Response.” Giancarlo Casem/USAF
Warzone/The Drive: The Air Force Says Its First Hypersonic Missile Will Make Its Inaugural Flight Within 30 Days
The new schedule comes after an Air Force official said just recently that the first flight test of the AGM-183 would take place this past week.
The U.S. Air Force has again pushed back the date for the first flight of its AGM-183A Air-launched Rapid Response Weapon, or ARRW. The launch was supposed to finally occur this week, after being delayed due to unspecified issues last year, but is now expected to take place sometime within the next month or so. The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center’s Armament Directorate at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida announced on March 5, 2021, that the first ARRW flight, dubbed Booster Test Flight 1 (BTF-1), should occur "in the next 30 days."
On Feb. 26, during a presentation as part of the Air Force Association's 2021 Virtual Aerospace Warfare Symposium, Air Force Brigadier General Heath Collins, the service's Program Executive Officer for Weapons, had declared BTF-1 would happen by the end of this week. Before that, this test was supposed to take place before the end of December 2020.
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Update: Air Force About to Make First Hypersonic Missile Flight, After Recent Failure (Air Force Magazine)
WNU Editor: The Pentagon's goal is to field these weapons in the next few years .... Pentagon aims to field hypersonic weapons by mid-2020s (UPI). In the meantime the Russians are continuing to develop these weapons .... Moscow Prioritizes the Development of Hypersonic Weapons (Jamestown), as well as the Chinese .... China’s hypersonic cruise missile sees technological breakthrough: reports (Global Times).
