USAF and hypersonics; speed, height and distance...!

As the USAF has plans to retire some 300+ aircraft and helicopters during Fiscal Year 2024, other technological weapon systems, like hypersonics will emerge. For the US Department of Defense, and the especially the USAF, it is a ticking clock to raise funds in a race to catch up with the emerging technologies from China and Russia.

On 13 March 2023, a Boeing B-52H Stratofortress released the second AGM-183A Air-launched Rapid Response Weapon (ARRW) off the southern California coast.

This test, carried out by Edward's 419th Flight Test Squadron B-52H 60-0050 "Dragon's Inferno", was the second launch of a full prototype operational hypersonic missile. Although it is believed that the test, which was mainly focused on the ARRW’s end-to-end performance, met several key objectives, the test team was very reluctant to give any large statements.

At this moment, the ARRW team, consisting of testers from the 412th Test Wing at Edwards AFB (CA) and Lockheed Martin engineers are analysing the collected data. At the end of last year, a Stratofortress released the first All-Up-Round ARRW off the Southern California coast. Before that, test events were focused on proving the booster performance. Scramble Magazine wrote about those ARRW tests before .

Almost simultaneously, the USAF, Lockheed Martin Skunk Works, The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and the Aerojet Rocketdyne Team are conducting tests with the Hypersonic Air-Breathing Weapon Concept (HAWC). At the end of January 2023, the test team accomplished their primary objectives during its second HAWC flight test. This, doubling the amount of scramjet powered vehicle data. Also Launched from a B-52H, during the test, the HAWC system's first stage boosted it to the targeted engine ignition envelope, where the Aerojet Rocketdyne scramjet engine fired and accelerated the system to speeds in excess of Mach 5. The system performed as predicted travelling more than 300 nautical miles and reaching altitudes above 60,000 feet.

In the future, already renowned for their speed, height and distance, both the ARRW and HAWC are designed to enable the US to hold fixed, high-value, time-sensitive targets at risk in contested environments. To be continued...

Credit photos: USAF and TMWolf (On Twitter)
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