U.S. Defense Dept Successfully Test Fires Hypersonic Missile

The Defense Department has announced the successful launch of a hypersonic missile – as part of an effort to advance U.S. military capabilities amid threats from China and Russia.

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency This week Lockheed Martin released the U.S. Air Force Hypersonic Airbreathing Gun Concept. “capped a program that accomplished all of its initial objectives.”

“This month’s flight added an exclamation point to the most successful hypersonic air-breathing flight test program in US history,” Walter Price, Air Force deputy “The things we’ve learned from [the Hypersonic Airbreathing Weapon Concept] will certainly enhance future U.S. Air Force capabilities.”

The agency will analyze data from the test in which the missile flew more than 600,000 feet high and further than 300 miles. 

China and Russia have each claimed to have launched hypersonic rockets in 2021. Space Force General David Thompson was next. acknowledging  the United States was behind in hypersonic capabilities. 

Last year, Russia claimed to have even deployed a hypersonic missile against Ukraine, but defense experts are skeptical about the missile’s success.