Air Force wants to develop follow-on to ARRW hypersonic missile
The Air Force’s budget request for fiscal 2027 also shows that it wants to begin development of an Air-Launched Ballistic Missile to complement other hypersonic weapons.
The Air Force’s budget request for fiscal 2027 also shows that it wants to begin development of an Air-Launched Ballistic Missile to complement other hypersonic weapons.
After nearly cancelling the program, Air Force is requesting $387.1 million in fiscal 2026 to start production of the Air-Launched Rapid Response Weapon (ARRW).
Program delays will force the Air Force to reduce the number of flight tests it can conduct for the Hypersonic Attack Cruise Missile, according to the GAO’s annual weapons assessment report.
Gen. David Allvin said the Air Force has two hypersonic missile programs that are “getting into the procurement range in the very near future.”
“It gets back to the kill web. So, where do hypersonics fit into how we are going to fight?” Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Christopher Grady said in an exclusive interview with DefenseScoop.
Meanwhile, the Air Force is requesting $517 million for another weapon known as the Hypersonic Attack Cruise Missile (HACM).
“Let’s just say that there is a plan. It’s not something we can talk about in this open session,” Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment William LaPlante told members of the House Armed Services Committee.
ARRW’s flight test schedule is “continually challenged to the limited availability and numbers of hypersonic flight corridors, target areas, and test support assets,” according to a new Pentagon report.
The deal is an addition to the nearly $1 billion deal awarded to Raytheon in 2022 to develop the Hypersonic Attack Cruise Missile (HACM).
Air Force acquisition chief Andrew Hunter spoke with DefenseScoop about the service’s hypersonics programs.