US Air Force s ARRW fails first booster vehicle flight test
07 April 2021
by Pat Host
The US Air Force (USAF)/Lockheed Martin AGM-183A Air-launched Rapid Response Weapon (ARRW) conventional hypersonic glide weapon prototype failed its first booster vehicle flight test on 5 April, according to a service statement.
The ARRW failed to complete its launch sequence and did not deploy from its Boeing B-52H Stratofortress heavy bomber carriage aircraft. The B-52H flew over the Point Mugu Sea Range near California, intending to fire the ARRW booster test vehicle. Instead, the weapon returned with the B-52H to Edwards Air Force Base (AFB), California.
By AARON GREGG | The Washington Post | Published: April 7, 2021 WASHINGTON A Tuesday test mission over the military s Point Mugu Sea Range near Los Angeles was supposed to demonstrate the U.S. Air Force s unrivaled technological prowess. Late Tuesday morning, a 1950s-era B-52 bomber took off from Edwards Air Force Base carrying a newly developed missile, called the ARRW, which is designed to evade missile defense systems while flying more than five times the speed of sound. But the next-generation weapon could not accomplish a critical step: detaching from the wing of the plane. The test missile was not able to complete its launch sequence due to an unspecified issue it encountered on the aircraft, according to a statement the service published Wednesday.
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Lockheed Martin rendering of the AGM-183 ARRW.
The first flight test of the AGM-183A ARRW failed on Monday, April 5, 2021, over the Point Mugu Sea Range.
The U.S. Air Force’s long-awaited first flight test of its hypersonic AGM-183A ARRW (Air-launched Rapid Response Weapon), a boost-glide hypersonic system being developed by Lockheed Martin, failed when “the first booster vehicle flight test encountered an issue on the aircraft and did not launch” on Apr. 5, 2021.
According to a release, a B-52H Stratofortress bomber took off and headed over the Point Mugu Sea Range intending to fire the first booster test vehicle for the AGM-183A, but the test missile was unable to complete the launch sequence and was not released by the “mothership” that returned to Edwards AFB, where it safely landed.