US Navy preps hypersonic weapon test this spring

The US Navy is heading into a major test of a hypersonic weapon that will help determine the way ahead for a joint development program with the US Army, according to the Army’s Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office director, Report informs via Defense News.

“The Navy is moving forward on their test, which isn’t a launch out of ground support equipment, but just off a stool launch, so we get another look at the missile,” Lt. Gen. Robert Rasch told Defense News in a March 27 interview here at the Association of the US Army’s Global Force Symposium.

The Navy’s test of the Common-Hypersonic Glide Body will lead into an Army test of the missile in the summer from a ground-based launcher, he said. “Right now, if things go as planned, we’ll be out at the range this summer.”

Hypersonic weapons are capable of flying faster than Mach 5 — or more than 3,836 miles per hour — and can maneuver between varying altitudes, making them difficult to detect. The C-HGB is made up of the weapon’s warhead, guidance system, cabling and thermal protection shield.