[By Observers Network, Wang Shih-ping] More than a year after being shelved, the US Air Force hopes to restart the AGM-183A "Air-Launched Rapid Response Weapon" (ARRW) hypersonic program, according to a report by Defense News on June 10, even possibly advancing it to the procurement phase.

General David Alvin, Chief of Staff of the US Air Force, told members of the House Armed Services Committee last week that the Air Force plans to seek funding for both the conventional strike weapon (ARRW) and the hypersonic attack cruise missile (HACM) in its budget proposal for fiscal year 2026.

AGM-183A tested last March

Alvin said at Thursday's hearing of the House Armed Services Committee: "We are seeking funding for two different hypersonic projects in our budget application - assuming it is what we submitted before. One is a larger model, which belongs to a more strategic long-range weapon. We have conducted multiple tests on it, and it is called the 'Army Long-Range Hypersonic Weapon.' The other is the 'Hypersonic Air-Launched Cruise Missile'."

His colleagues said that the department hopes to move these two weapons, 'Advanced Hypersonic Weapon' and 'Hypersonic Conventional Missile,' from the research and development stage to the procurement stage in the near future. Alvin said: "We are not only accelerating our pace in technological development but also accelerating the acquisition of the capabilities brought by this technology."

Troy Maine, Secretary of the Air Force, told the legislators at the same hearing that now that the Air Force has matured hypersonic technology, it must focus on reducing costs and promoting the production of related systems. Maine said: "It must be affordable. We need to be able to afford more than 10 such missiles. The current focus is on increasing output and reducing costs so that we can obtain enough kits to really make an impact."

The AGM-183A missile is an air-launched hypersonic missile with a waverider configuration planned for deployment by the US military. Unlike currently deployed hypersonic weapons, the AGM-183A missile reportedly uses full-glide technology, remaining within the atmosphere throughout its flight, with a top speed of up to 20 Mach and a maximum range of 1,600 kilometers. The US Air Force hopes that future F-15EX, B-52H bombers, and B-1B bombers will use this highly penetrating missile to strike enemy deep-seated high-value targets and time-sensitive targets.

Regarding the reasons for the US military's revival of the AGM-183A, Defense News explained that China and Russia have invested heavily in hypersonic research and have boasted about their progress, with Russia even using hypersonic weapons in Ukraine. These countries' successes have caused concern among senior US lawmakers and Pentagon leaders, increasing pressure on the US military to develop its own hypersonic capabilities.

Despite Lockheed Martin's ambitions, the AGM-183A has not fared well in testing. The missile failed five times during tests on April 5, 2021, July 28, December 15, 2021, June 29, 2022, and March 13, 2023. On March 17 last year, the US Air Force successfully tested the AGM-183A for the last time at a Pacific base. This was the first time the US military tested an air-launched hypersonic weapon overseas and consumed the last prototype-stage AGM-183A missile.

Ongoing failures have spurred Americans. Former head of acquisitions Andrew Hunter told lawmakers in March 2023 that the Air Force does not plan to purchase ARRW missiles after the prototype phase, causing significant trouble for the project. The Air Force did not include funds for procurement or R&D of the "Air-Launched Rapid Response Weapon" (ARRW) in its fiscal year 2025 budget request released in March 2024. The service ended the "Air-Launched Rapid Response Weapon" prototype phase in 2024.

Although the US Air Force abandoned Lockheed Martin's ARRW project, the HACM hypersonic cruise missile project led by Raytheon still received substantial resources. Last year, the HACM missile received continued support of $517 million from the Air Force in the fiscal year 2025 budget. The development of US air-launched hypersonic weapons continues.

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Original source: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7514135894677307944/

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