The US Air Force announced on Monday (16) the completion of a successful test of a hypersonic weapon, which, according to the Americans, flew at five times the speed of sound.
The trial took place off the coast of Southern California on Saturday, when a B-52 bomber launched a rapid-response weapon, the military said in a statement.
“After separation from the aircraft, the ARRW thruster [arma de resposta rápida lançada do ar] ignited and burned for the expected duration, reaching speeds five times the speed of sound.”
The US had been skating on the subject, despite researching it for decades. The Americans are not alone in developing hypersonic weapons, whose speed and maneuverability make them difficult to intercept. Russia even fired missiles of the type at targets in Ukraine.
China also reportedly tested hypersonic weapons last year, according to US military officials – the orbital bombing system gives Beijing more options for hitting US targets. The foreign ministry of the Asian country, however, denied in October that it had carried out a test of these weapons.
In April, when the war in Ukraine had already heated up the world’s arms industry, China accused the US of fomenting an arms race in Asia. The criticism came after the American announcement that the country, with the United Kingdom and Australia, partners in the Aukus alliance, would develop a hypersonic missile.
Even North Korea, another American rival and backed by Moscow and Beijing, jumped on the bandwagon and announced in January that it had launched such a missile. There is no independent confirmation of the statement, but it is evident that the issue has become a priority in the anti-Washington camp.
The American missile uses the so-called scramjet, which makes internal combustion with supersonic airflow. This is the same principle as the Russian Tsirkon (zircon), in an advanced stage of testing, but not operational.
The US has set aside $4.7 billion from the budget sent to Congress for fiscal year 2023 (October this year to September 2023) for hypersonic missiles, within a weapons development perspective worth $130 billion.
