The US Air Force will not pursue the hypersonic weapons program under development by the famous Lockheed Martin company, as attention is being diverted towards a “new project”.
“The Air Force does not currently intend to pursue the purchase of the weapon, known as the ARRW, although it will conduct two additional flight tests to collect critical data,” US Air Force Assistant Secretary for Acquisitions Andrew Hunter told the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Wednesday.
Hunter did not say why the Air Force abandoned the Lockheed Martin program, but it comes days after Bloomberg News reported that a recent test of the ARRW had failed, after the weapon’s data link was lost in flight.
Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall admitted to another panel on Tuesday that the test “wasn’t successful” because the service “didn’t give us the data we needed.”
Focus on an alternative weapon
Kendall said the Air Force was “more committed” to another weapon called the hypersonic cruise missile, which is made by Raytheon Co., but did not say service would end the Lockheed program after testing the prototype.
“Specific Role” for Raytheon Weapon
“We see a specific role” for the Raytheon missile because “it’s compatible with more of our aircraft and it’s going to give us more combat capability overall,” Kendall said.
Raytheon weapon specifications
- The Raytheon weapon flies on its own while the ARRW launches from a missile before detaching the warhead and gliding at supersonic speed toward the target.
- The March 13 test was significant because it is the second of four planned tests of an operational hypersonic missile prototype.
- It was the best hypersonic program in service and was intended to compete with the already successful Russian and Chinese programs.
- The weapon is designed to fly at up to 8 times the speed of sound and about 1,600 km. The Congressional Research Service said in a Feb. 13 report that the Air Force has repeatedly “postponed the schedule” for the hypersonic missile, and now says it could be operational as soon as this fall.
The Lockheed Martin fiasco
- Three previous boost test failures for the ARRW development model stalled production last year.
- The Pentagon had hoped to announce the first combat-capable hypersonic weapon in the United States by September 30, 2022, but the matter was slightly delayed.
