NEW YORK, December 12. /TASS/. The US has conducted the first test of a full prototype air-launched hypersonic missile, the press service of the Florida-based Eglin Air Force Base said in a statement on Monday.
The launch of the AGM-183A missile was made by a B-52 Stratofortress bomber, and is part of the Air-launched Rapid Response Weapon program.
"This test was the first launch of a full prototype operational missile. Previous test events focused on proving the booster performance," the statement said.
It said that following the launch the missile reached hypersonic speeds greater than five times the speed of sound, completed its flight path and detonated in the terminal area.
"Indications show that all objectives were met," the statement said.
Pentagon previously held tests of the weapon in May and July. Vladimir Yermakov, director of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s department for nonproliferation and arms control, told TASS in May that Russia was ahead of the US by a wide margin in terms of the development of hypersonic weapons. With respect to the risks the US research poses to Russia’s security, the diplomat said that, given the destructive moves by the US in the area of international security over the past decades, "it won’t be an exaggeration to say that any new weapons system they build intrinsically generates risks for the countries that Americans list as their opponents and adversaries".