The U.S. Air Force has scheduled to perform flight tests for a long-range hypersonic missile designed by Lockheed Martin under the service branch's Air-launched Rapid Response Weapon prototyping program, FlightGlobal reported Tuesday.
The demonstration for the AGM-183A ARRW boost-glide missile is planned for the first week of March and is intended to provide the Air Force with an operational hypersonic weapon by 2022. The missile will be carried by the military's bomber aircraft.
“We actually have hardware built and are getting ready for our first booster flight test next week… We’re also getting ready to transition into production within about a year on that program," said Air Force Brig. Gen. Heath Collins, program executive officer for weapons and director of the service branch's armament directorate, during an industry symposium.
In December 2019, Lockheed received a potential $988.8 million contract modification from USAF for services in support of its ARRW critical design review, test and manufacturing readiness activities. The company initially won a $480 million contract for the missile's design.
