The U.S. Navy and Army successfully conducted a test of hypersonic weapons components and materials on Oct. 26, the Pentagon announced, amid continued efforts to surpass Russia and China in developing the emerging class of weapons.
Hypersonic weapons refer to weapons that can travel faster than Mach 5—meaning five times faster than the speed of sound, or around 3,800 mph (6,116 kph)—and can maneuver during the flight.
Sandia National Laboratories ran the test from a seaside launch pad at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.
“This test will be used to inform the development of the Navy’s Conventional Prompt Strike (CPS) and the Army’s Long Range Hypersonic Weapon (LRHW) offensive hypersonic strike capability,” the Navy announced. Efforts are “on track to support the first fielding of a hypersonic capability to the Army” in fiscal year 2023, it said….