The U.S Secretly tested a Hypersonic Cruise Missile

The U.S Secretly tested a Hypersonic Cruise Missile

The US Air Force and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) conducted a secret test of a hypersonic missile system in mid-March. The Hypersonic Air-breathing Weapon Concept (HAWC) test took occurred a few weeks ago, during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but the Pentagon kept quiet about it to avoid upsetting Moscow.

According to Defense News, the HAWC hypersonic missile was tested off the West Coast. The HAWC was launched by a B-52 bomber mothership, which activated the weapon’s Aerojet Rocketdyne scramjet engine. The vehicle accelerated to speeds “greater than Mach 5,” however DARPA, the Department of Defense’s research and development arm, hasn’t said how fast it went. (Mach 5 travels at a speed of 3,836 miles per hour.)

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