US to receive first hypersonic missiles by 2025-end

Following a lengthy delay as the US Army and Navy struggled to test the round, the Army will field its long-range hypersonic weapon to the first unit by the end of fiscal 2025, a defense official confirmed Wednesday in a statement to Defense News, Report informs.

The Army had planned to field the live, ground-launched hypersonic rounds to the 1st Multi-Domain Task Force, 5th Battalion, 3rd Field Artillery Regiment, 17th Field Artillery Brigade unit at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state by the fall of 2023. But the milestone continued to be pushed back after several aborted tests in 2023 due to challenges at the range, related not to the round, but the process of firing up the missile for launch.

Testing the all-up round was considered critical to ensure the system was safe, effective and ready for fielding, said then-Army acquisition chief Doug Bush.

The US is in a race to field the capability and develop systems to defend against hypersonic missiles. China and Russia are actively developing and testing hypersonic weapons.

The Army conducted an end-to-end successful flight test of its hypersonic missile at the Pacific Missile Range Facility in Hawaii in May 2024, which put the initial fielding to the first unit closer on the horizon.