3 ms·

>> "Following separation from the aircraft, the ARRW's booster ignited and burned for expected duration, achieving hypersonic speeds five times greater than the

>> "Following separation from the aircraft, the ARRW's booster ignited and burned for expected duration, achieving hypersonic speeds five times greater than the speed of sound," it said. Big deal. The booster is just a rocket. And Mach numbers are meaningless without altitude reference. Anything that travels to the outer atmosphere/space will hit extreme Mach numbers on the way up/down. So without any further data the above statement means little more than "we fired a big rocket". Did the sustainment motor, the air-breathing thing that differentiates a true hypersonic from every other rocket, did that motor function in cruise mode? Or is this essentially just a boost-glide ballistic missile?

nilstycho 4y ago
The ARRW boost-glide vehicle is unpowered, but maneuverable. This test used a dummy boost-glide vehicle, though. They haven't disclosed if releasing the dummy vehicle was part of this test, and if so whether it succeeded. This test was just testing the boost phase. edit: From the Lockheed Martin press release (https://news.lockheedmartin.com/2022-05-17-us-air-force-and-lockheed-martin-successfully-complete-arrw-hypersonic-boosted-test-flight https://news.lockheedmartin.com/2022-05-17-us-air-force-and-...): > The successful flight demonstrates the weapon’s ability to reach and withstand operational hypersonic speeds, collect crucial data for use in further flight tests, and validate safe separation from the aircraft to deliver the glide body and warhead to designated targets from significant standoff distances. … Additional booster and all-up-round test flights will continue throughout 2022, before reaching Early Operational Capability (EOC) in 2023.