The U.S. Air Force set off a hypersonic missile warhead for the first time during a recent Air-Launched Rapid Response Weapon test held at Eglin AF Base in Florida.
USAF said Wednesday that its 780th Test Squadron aimed to evaluate the lethality of AGM-183A rocket-powered hypersonic technology via the detonation event.
Lockheed Martin designed the ARRW system prototype under a $480 million contract the military service awarded in August 2018.
The partnership initially tested the weapon on a B-52 Stratofortress aircraft in June 2019 and conducted a second flight test in August 2020.
David Spiker, a test manager at 780th TS, pointed out that the recent test involved various firsts for the program such as the test arena design, novel data collection processes and equipment and new post-test information processing methods.