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Lockheed Martin successfully tests new hypersonic missile under HAWC project

The missile was launched from a B-52

WASHINGTON, January 31. /TASS/. The US corporation Lockheed Martin has successfully conducted its second flight test of Hypersonic Air-breathing Weapon Concept (HAWC), doubling the amount of scramjet powered vehicle data, the company said in a press release.

"Launching from a B-52, the HAWC system's first stage boosted it to the targeted engine ignition envelope, where the Aerojet Rocketdyne scramjet engine fired and accelerated the system to speeds in excess of Mach 5 (6125 km per hour - TASS). The system performed as predicted travelling more than 300 nautical miles (555 kilometers - TASS) and reaching altitudes above 60,000 feet (almost 19 kilometers - TASS)," the document said.

The tests were carried out jointly by Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the US Air Force Research Lab (AFRL), Lockheed Martin and Aerojet Rocketdyne, specializing in the production of missile engines.

DARPA coordinates the US development of hypersonic weapons under the HAWC program. Raytheon Technologies and Lockheed Martin are competing for the hypersonic weapons contract.

Director of the Russian Foreign Ministry's Department for Non-Proliferation and Arms Control Vladimir Yermakov said in late May 2022 that Russia had seriously broken away from the United States in the development of hypersonic weapons. Speaking about the risks of US developments for Russia’s security, the diplomat stressed that taking into account the destructive US activities in the field of international security observed during last decades, "it would be no exaggeration to say that development of any new weapons systems represents a risk for the countries that the Americans consider their opponents and adversaries."

At the same time, Former Chief of Staff the Strategic Missile Forces Colonel-General Viktor Yesin pointed out that the Russian Kinzhal hypersonic missile system had reached a speed of Mach 8 a long time ago.

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