All Enemy SHOCKED: US Air Force successful launches second-to-last AGM-183A ARRW all-up round

US Air Force launches second-to-last AGM-183A ARRW all-up round
The US Air Force (USAF) launched a Lockheed Martin AGM-183A Air-launched Rapid Response Weapon (ARRW) on 12 October.

“This test launched a full prototype operational hypersonic missile and focused on the ARRW's end-to-end performance,” the USAF said in a statement. “The air force gained valuable new insights into the capabilities of this new, cutting-edge technology.

While we won't discuss specific test objectives, this test acquired valuable, unique data and was intended to further a range of programs such as ARRW and Hypersonic Attack Cruise Missile (HACM).”

Notably absent from the statement is the mention of whether the ARRW reached its target or achieved all its objectives; a statement about ARRW's most recent launch on 13 March contained similar language despite later being described as a “failure” by Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall.

Kendall told the US House Armed Services Committee on 29 March that two all-up ARRW rounds remained, and that the USAF intended to launch them to gather data for future hypersonic programmes. The 12 October launch likely leaves one remaining ARRW, with its launch date unclear.

The USAF told Janes following the 13 March test that purchasing additional ARRW missiles would be an “event-driven” decision, to be settled after “operational utility is demonstrated through successful [launches]”. Given the unclear result of the 12 October test, additional ARRW purchases appear unlikely.
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US Air Force tests troubled hypersonic missile.
The US Air Force carried out a successful test of its troubled hypersonic missile over the weekend, one month after announcing the program had suffered delays because of “recent flight test anomalies.”

The Air-launched Rapid Response Weapon was successfully released from a B-52H bomber off the coast of Southern California on Saturday and attained hypersonic speeds, the Air Force announced on Monday, without releasing any more details about the test itself, such as the duration of the flight or its altitude.

“This was a major accomplishment by the ARRW team, for the weapon enterprise, and our Air Force,” said Brig. Gen. Heath Collins, the Air Force’s program executive officer for weapons.

The ARRW is a hypersonic weapon that uses a booster rocket to accelerate the missile to speeds in excess of Mach 5, or five times the speed of sound. A hypersonic glide vehicle then separates from the booster and glides at high speed toward its target.

The Air Force has struggled with the testing of the AGM-183A ARRW in the past, and the program suffered three flight test failures before this latest success. Last month, the Air Force said that flight test anomalies had pushed back the schedule for the weapon’s completion. The first complete test of the missile and booster rocket was delayed until sometime in the next fiscal year, which begins in October.