WASHINGTON, WASHINGTON, Oct 21 (Reuters) - The Pentagon's hypersonic weapon programs suffered a setback on Thursday when a booster rocket carrying a hypersonic weapon failed, people briefed on the test result said.
The test was intended to validate aspects of one of the Pentagon's hypersonic glide vehicles in development, two of the people said.
The tests occurred the same day that U.S. President Joe Biden said he was concerned about Chinese hypersonic weapons. read more
The Sandia National Laboratory ran the tests from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia which will help "inform the development of the Navy's Conventional Prompt Strike (CPS) and the Army's Long Range Hypersonic Weapon (LRHW) offensive hypersonic strike," a statement said.
The Navy and Army will conduct a flight test of the common hypersonic missile in fiscal 2022, which began on Oct. 1.Hypersonic weapons travel in the upper atmosphere at more than five times the speed of sound, or about 3,853 miles per hour (6,200 kph).
These tests "demonstrated advanced hypersonic technologies, capabilities, and prototype systems in a realistic operating environment," the Pentagon said in a statement.
The United States has actively pursued the development of hypersonic weapons as a part of its conventional prompt global strike program since the early 2000s.
Companies such as Lockheed Martin (LMT.N) and Raytheon Technologies (RTX.N) are working to develop the hypersonic weapon capability for the United States.
No comments:
Post a Comment