Hypersonic missile delay puts US further behind Russia and China

WASHINGTON (BLOOMBERG) – The first US hypersonic weapon will be delayed for as long as a year under a new schedule, even as lawmakers protest that the Pentagon is lagging behind in a new technology that Russia has already used in Ukraine and China has demonstrated in a space launch.

The goal to declare an “early operational capability” for the Lockheed Martin missile by Sept 30 has been moved back to sometime in the next fiscal year, according to an Air Force statement.

The Pentagon has said the Air-Launched Rapid Response Weapon, or ARRW, is expected to be the “nation’s first operational hypersonic weapon”.

Hypersonic weapons are hard to track and destroy because they fly five times the speed of sound and can be manoeuvred. Last month, Russia debuted a hypersonic air-to-ground missile in its attack on Ukraine, and in July China hit a demonstration target on Earth with a weapon in orbit.

Adversaries don’t have to meet the rigorous standards set under the US defence acquisition system or face public scrutiny over delays and failure.

The Lockheed missile failed three consecutive booster motor tests last year, leaving it behind in passing two additional motor tests and at least one of a fully assembled missile. Now, “due to recent flight test anomalies”, the first test of the entire missile has shifted to the period between Oct 1 and Dec 30 with additional tests planned later in the next fiscal year, according to the Air Force statement.

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