Personnel at Barksdale Air Force Base began preparing to test a hypersonic
What is known
By the end of the year, the US Air Force will test the AGM-183AAir-Launched Rapid Response (ARRW). As before, the B-52H Stratofortress strategic bomber will take part in the test. Specialists from the 307th Maintenance Squadron and representatives of the ARRW program began preparing the aircraft for loading the latest weapons.
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AGM-183A ARRW - promising hypersoniccruise missile. It is equipped with a solid-propellant booster and a controlled warhead, which is being developed by the American company Lockheed Martin by order of the US Air Force.
In the summer of 2019 at Edwards Air Force Base (Edwards)passed the first test of a prototype rocket. Until the end of 2020, the US Air Force made several more layout tests. The debut flight test took place in April 2021.
Tests completed in July and December 2021failure, as the AGM-183A ARRW was unable to separate from the aircraft. Last spring, a B-52H Stratofortress successfully launched a rocket that reached Mach 5 (6174 km/h) in flight.
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The final version of the AGM-183A ARRW is expectedwill be able to accelerate to Mach 20 (24,700 km/h). The launch range will be, according to various sources, from 900 to 1600 km. The ARRW is the first air-launched missile to be added to the military's arsenal. As we wrote above, tests will take place before the end of the year, and the adoption of the AGM-183A into service is planned for the fall of 2023.
Image: Air & Space Forces Magazine, Wikipedia