US hails HAWC test but still plays catch-up on hypersonics
Artist's impression of the Hypersonic Air-breathing Weapon Concept missile. (Image: Lockheed Martin)
The second successful test flight of the HAWC missile fails to obscure patchy progress overall in US hypersonic programmes.
A DARPA-led team including the Air Force Research Lab, Lockheed Martin and Aerojet Rocketdyne has conducted the second successful flight test of the Hypersonic Air-breathing Weapon Concept (HAWC) missile.
After release from a carrier aircraft, HAWC was boosted to its Aerojet Rocketdyne scramjet engine ignition envelope.
It flew at speeds beyond Mach 5 and reached an altitude of above 65,000ft during the free-flight test in March, Lockheed Martin announced on 5 April.
According to DARPA, the missile flew for more than 300nmi.
In the first HAWC programme test flight, conducted in September 2021, a different vehicle configuration (involving
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