--- title: "The Air Force just successfully tested a fully operational hypersonic weapon for the first time" description: "An Air Force B-52H Stratofortress released the first fully operational AGM-183A Air-launched Rapid Response Weapon hypersonic weapon." date: "2022-12-12" modified: "2022-12-12" authors: - name: "Jared Keller" job_title: "Former Managing Editor" link: "https://taskandpurpose.com/authors/jaredkeller/" url: "https://taskandpurpose.com/tech-tactics/air-force-hypersonic-weapon-live-fire/" categories: - "Air Force" - "Military Branches" - "Missiles" - "News" - "Tech & Tactics" - "Weapons" --- # The Air Force just successfully tested a fully operational hypersonic weapon for the first time ![AGM-183A Air-launched Rapid Response Weapon hypersonic weapon]() *A AGM-183A Air-launched Rapid Response Weapon on the wing of a B-52H Stratofortress bomber in an undated Air Force photo. (U.S. Air Force/Ethan Wagner)* Just seven months after conducting its [first successful flight test](), the Air Force has carried out its first end-to-end trial of its newest hypersonic weapon using a fully operational prototype missile, the service [announced]() on Monday. A B-52H Stratofortress assigned to the 412th Test Wing at Edwards Air Force Base in California successfully released the first “All-Up-Round” fully operational AGM-183A Air-launched Rapid Response Weapon (or, more succinctly, ARRW) off the state’s southern coast on Dec. 9, the service [said]() in a press release. Technical details on the ARRW are obviously scant due to operational security, the hypersonic weapon is billed as “\[an\] air-launched hypersonic glide vehicle prototype capable of traveling at average speeds of between Mach 6.5 and Mach 8 at a range of approximately 1,000 miles,” [according]() to the Congressional Research Service. The ARRW “is designed to enable the U.S. to hold fixed, high-value, time-sensitive targets at risk in contested environments,” [according]() to the service’s press release. While previous tests of the ARRW — like the service’s [much-publicized]() first successful launch in May [following months of failed flight trials]() — were more focused on booster performance, the latest test saw the weapon reach hypersonic speeds “greater than five times the speed of sound” and follow a set flight path before detonating in a “terminal area,” [according]() to the service. [**Subscribe to Task & Purpose Today**]()**. Get the latest military news, entertainment, and gear in your inbox daily.** The trial still represents a major step forward for what may eventually become the first hypersonic weapon in the service’s arsenal. The development of hypersonic weapons — which travel at speeds multiple times the speed of sound and are extremely difficult to intercept with conventional air defenses — has become a [top priority]() for the Defense Department amid its reorientation towards preparing for a future war against near-peer adversaries like Russia and China. “The ARRW team successfully designed and tested an air-launched hypersonic missile in five years,” Brig. Gen. Jason Bartolomei, Armament Directorate Program Executive Officer, [said]() in a statement. “I am immensely proud of the tenacity and dedication this team has shown to provide a vital capability to our warfighter.” When the ARRW might actually end up hanging from the wings of deployed B-52s, however, remains to be seen. While the Air Force originally requested $46.6 million to procure a single ARRW system as part of its fiscal year 2023 budget request, the House-approved National Defense Authorization Act that will likely end up as law [zeroes out]() procurement for the weapon for the year. The reason? As Breaking Defense [reported](), that money is going back into research and development for the ARRW, although Air Force officials insisted that the service is “not walking away” from the hypersonic weapon despite a lack of future planning to buy it. The Air Force had previously requested $161 million in fiscal year 2022 to buy its first raft of 12 ARRW missiles, but the 2022 NDAA ended up funding procurement to the tune of $116.9 million over concerns the program had become “increasingly delayed and compressed” following earlier failed tests [according]() to budget documents. The ARRW isn’t the only hypersonic weapon in the mix for the Air Force at the moment. In September, the service awarded defense giant Raytheon a $985 million contract to “develop and demonstrate” prototypes of the Hypersonic Attack Cruise Missile (HACM), described as “an air-launched, scramjet-powered hypersonic weapon.” The Air Force plans on delivering “a HACM capability with operational utility, whatever that means, by the fiscal year 2027, [according]() to the service. The Air Force had previously canceled its Hypersonic Conventional Strike Weapon program — envisioned as “ a long-range stand-off missile capable of being launched from an aircraft and traveling faster than speeds of Mach 5,” [per]() Defense News — due to [budget pressures]() that forced the service to choose between the HCSW and the ARRW. ## The latest on Task & Purpose - **Air National Guard colonel** [**suspended following investigation**]() - **The Navy will now enlist recruits who** [**score 10 on their ASVAB**]() - **The Army has** [**selected the V-280 Valor**]() **to replace its Black Hawk fleet** - **Five soldiers with the 10th Mountain Division** [**arrested for rape**]() - [**Old Air Force A-10 Warthog**]() **learns new trick: Covering fire for B-1B bombers** **Want to write for Task & Purpose?**[ **Click here**]()**.** ## Author Jared Keller is the former managing editor of Task & Purpose. His writing has appeared in Aeon, the Los Angeles Review of Books, the New Republic, Pacific Standard, Smithsonian, and The Washington Post, among other publications. ### Author social links [Twitter]() [Facebook]() [LinkedIn]() [Instagram]()