DARPA Tests Hypersonic Weapons

The US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is preparing to flight test two hypersonic weapons. One vehicle is part of the hypersonic air-breathing weapon concept, or HAWC, programme. The other is the tactical boost glide, or TBG, effort. The military envisions developing TBG as an air-launched rocket with speeds faster than Mach 5 and able to reach altitudes of nearly 200,000 ft. The HAWC is also designed to be air launched but is envisioned as a hypersonic cruise missile. By the end of 2019, DARPA plans to flight test both weapons off a B-52 bomber.