US secretly tests hypersonic missile that can strike 1,725 miles away in minutes
The US Department of Defense performed a secretive test of its Long-Range Hypersonic Weapon, Dark Eagle, over the weekend.
According to several reports, the test mission flew from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Friday. It marks one of the first times a war missile has been tested from Cape Canaveral since 1988.
The missile, jointly developed for the US Army and Navy, was fired skyward from Launch Complex 46. Dark Eagle is the Army iteration of the weapon. Fireable from a ground unit, the missile blazes through the air at five times the speed of sound. It can reach anywhere on Earth within minutes.
Unsurprisingly, the DoD has revealed almost no details regarding the specifications of its classified Dark Eagle mission.
"A combined team of government, academic, and industry partners conducted a test on behalf of the Department of Defense from a test site at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. We are currently evaluating the results of the test," a DoD spokesperson told Florida Today in a written statement this week.
The launch was not publicly announced beforehand. However, a navigational warning issued by the US Coast Guard suggested a hypersonic test flight would take place. That warning outlined a security zone stretching out into the Atlantic in a southeasterly direction.
The Dark Eagle weapon was designed to travel roughly 6,000 km/h, or Mach 5 – five times the speed of sound. It has an estimated range of 2,775 km. This mission was the second Cape Canaveral test flight for Dark Eagle – the first took flight from the historic facility in December last year.
The world's leading military powers are increasingly looking to test hypersonic capabilities to give them the edge on the battlefield. According to the US Army, hypersonic weapons can strike anywhere in the world within minutes.
"This land-based, truck-launched system is armed with hypersonic missiles that can travel well over 3,800 miles per hour," a US Army post describing Dark Eagle explained. "They can reach the top of the Earth's atmosphere and remain just beyond the range of air and missile defense systems until they are ready to strike, and by then it's too late to react."
According to an MSN report, the first complete Dark Eagle unit is expected to be fielded in the fiscal year of 2025, two years behind schedule. Each Dark Eagle unit will consist of four launchers, with eight missiles.
"Hypersonic weapons will complicate adversaries' decision calculus, strengthening deterrence," said Patrick Mason, US senior official performing the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics and Technology duties. "Their speed, accuracy, and versatility are befitting its new popular name, Dark Eagle."
The Navy also aims to integrate hypersonic weapons capabilities on its destroyers and submarines. Their version of the system will be called Conventional Prompt Strike.
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