Developing hypersonic weapons has been a key priority for the Pentagon amid competition from China and Russia, but the program has had a troubled test history with three consecutive test failures before a successful test in May. The Air Force did not say how fast the ARRW flew or how far it traveled, but said the missile reached supersonic speeds and hit its primary and secondary targets. The Air Force will begin testing the full system for the first time later this year, called an all-up-round test. In addition to the successful test of the ARRW, the Pentagon also conducted a successful test of the OpFires missile. The Operational Fires program is run by DARPA, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. It was the first flight test of the ground-based supersonic push-glide system, which is designed to be launched from a standard military truck, DARPA said. The test took place in late May, a defense official told CNN. The OpFires missile did not reach supersonic speeds during the test, the official told CNN, but that was not the goal of the exercise. Instead, the first test flight of the OpFires system was primarily designed to test the launch of the missile from the vehicle. Further testing of the system is planned for later this year, the official said. DARPA said the test met all of its goals. The Pentagon has placed increased emphasis on developing hypersonic weapons after lawmakers worried the US was lagging behind Chinese and Russian programs. Last year, China successfully tested a hypersonic weapon that orbited the globe before hitting its target. More recently, Russia became the first country to use hypersonic weapons in war when it launched Iskander and Kinzhal missiles into Ukraine. But the US effort to reach Russia and China has not been without problems. In addition to the failures during testing of the ARRW program, another hypersonic weapon system also experienced problems. In late June, a test of the Common Hypersonic Glide Body failed after an “anomaly” occurred during the first test of the full system, according to the Pentagon. The anomaly prevented the Defense Department from completing the entire test, but the Pentagon said it was not a complete failure. The previous test of the Common Hypersonic Glide Body, a joint operation between the Navy and the Army, also ended prematurely when the booster failed. Without the booster, the Pentagon would not be able to test the system. In March, the Pentagon successfully tested the Hypersonic Air-breathing Weapon Concept (HAWC), but kept the test quiet for two weeks to avoid escalating tensions with Russia as President Joe Biden was due to travel to Europe. UPDATE: This story has been updated to reflect the new timeline from a defense official for when the test took place. It was held at the end of May. It has also been updated with additional comments and background information.
