Watch: US “Successfully” Test-Launches Hypersonic Glide Body

Over the years, we’ve had a lot of coverage on hypersonic developments in Russia and China, mostly because their hypersonic programs are more advanced than the US. Now it appears the US could be catching up, as a new video via the US military shows a recent test of a hypersonic weapon.

The US Department of Defense (DoD) reported that it successfully launched a common hypersonic glide body (C-HGB) missile from the Pacific Missile Range Facility, Kauai, Hawaii, on March 19. 

U.S. Navy and U.S. Army jointly tests hypersonic glide body pic.twitter.com/9Fr8YvlBUS

— Dylan Malyasov (@DylanMalyasov) March 21, 2020

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The Missile Defense Agency (MDA) monitored the launch of the hypersonic missile as it hit speeds above Mach 5. Information gathered in this launch will further the DOD’s hypersonic program, reported Defense Blog. 

“This test builds on the success we had with Flight Experiment 1 in October 2017, in which our C-HGB achieved sustained hypersonic glide at our target distances,” said Vice Adm. Johnny R. Wolfe, Director, Navy’s Strategic Systems Programs, which is the lead designer for the C-HGB.

“In this test we put additional stresses on the system and it was able to handle them all, due to the phenomenal expertise of our top notch team of individuals from across government, industry and academia. Today we validated our design and are now ready to move to the next phase towards fielding a hypersonic strike capability.”

“This test was a critical step in rapidly delivering operational hypersonic capabilities to our warfighters in support of the National Defense Strategy,” said US Army LTG L. Neil Thurgood, Director of Hypersonics, Directed Energy, Space and Rapid Acquisition, whose office is leading the Army’s Long Range Hypersonic Weapon program and joint C-HGB production.

“We successfully executed a mission consistent with how we can apply this capability in the future. The joint team did a tremendous job in executing this test, and we will continue to move aggressively to get prototypes to the field.”

We noted back in October that the DoD will field C-HGBs sometime in 2023. 

Each missile is capable of achieving Mach 5 or higher, which is about 3,800 mph. 

Hypersonic missiles are the DoD’s top modernization effort at the moment because it is behind the hypersonic curve.

Shown below, C-HGBs can outmaneuver the world’s most advanced missile defense shields. 

As a pandemic consumes the world, the global economy crashed, and President Trump already plowed $2 trillion into military modernization efforts — WWIII with Russia and or China could be much closer than anyone thinks.