WASHINGTON, May 16 (Reuters) – The U.S. Air Force said Monday it had conducted a successful test on a hypersonic weapon that flew at five times the speed of sound.
The test was conducted off the coast of Southern California on Saturday when a B-52 bomber fired a Rapid Reaction Weapon (ARRW) fired from the air, the BBC said in a statement.
“After being released from the aircraft, the ARRW accelerator ignited and burned for the expected duration, achieving a hypersonic speed five times the speed of sound,” the statement said.
The United States is not alone in developing hypersonic weapons, whose speed and maneuverability make them difficult to track and intercept.
Russia has fired hypersonic missiles at targets in Ukraine, and China has tested hypersonic weapons, the U.S. military said. China’s foreign ministry denied in October that it had conducted weapons tests. Read more
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Report by Idrees Ali and Dan Whitcomb; Writing by Eric Beach; Edited by Sandra Mahler and Muralikumar Anantaraman
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