The U.S. Air Force conducted the first successful test of a hypersonic missile
The U.S. Air Force conducted the first successful test of a hypersonic missile
The U.S. Air Force command finally has a real reason for optimism – last Friday off the coast of Southern California for the first time after many years of failures successfully completed the test of a prototype hypersonic missile AGM-183A manufactured by Lockheed Martin.
The Pentagon’s leadership has been seriously discomfited of late by the success of its main adversaries, Russia and the PRC, in developing hypersonic weapons and by the activities of Iran and North Korea in their missile programs.
The AGM-183A was launched from a B-52H Stratofortress strategic bomber at high altitude. After undocking, the missile’s engine was launched, which accelerated it to Mach 5.
This means that its developers managed to solve the main problems – to create new heat-resistant materials, avionics and control systems operating at hypersonic speeds. In the future it is supposed to increase the speed of future hypersonic rockets up to 20 Mach.
