US successfully tests Mach 5 hypersonic missile

Deutsche Welle ^ | 09.27.2021 | wmr/msh (Reuters, AFP)

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The United States tested an advanced hypersonic missile system last week that will “offer next generation capability” to the US military, the Pentagon’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) said on Monday. The test flight comes just a few months after Russia tested a similar missile.

The US missile system, called a “Hypersonic Air-breathing Weapon Concept” (HAWC), was developed by the aerospace and defense giants Raytheon Technologies and Northrop Grumman.

During the test, which was carried out in partnership with DARPA and the US Air Force last week, the missile was released from under the wing of an aircraft, and seconds later a rocket booster kicked in propelling it faster than the speed of sound, or Mach 1.

Then a secondary engine built into the missile, called a “scramjet,” turned on and accelerated the missile to hypersonic flight.

Hypersonic speed is considered anything faster than Mach 5, or five times the speed of sound, equivalent to just over 100 kilometers (60 miles) per minute or about a mile every second. …

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