The HAWC (Hypersonic Air-Breathing Weapons Concept) program aims to create a missile with a jet engine with a supersonic combustion chamber (scramjet), i.e. one that significantly exceeds the capabilities of an ordinary jet engine. Last September, the first flight of this all-new US hypersonic cruise missile took place, but it has just been revealed that this new HAWC killer missile passed another test last month.
New HAWC deadly missile tested for the second time. The US kept it a secret
It turned out that the Air Force and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency jointly conducted a successful hypersonic missile test in secret from the world last month. For about two weeks, the Pentagon chose not to announce that the new HAWC deadly missile was put back into practice so as not to exacerbate the already delicate tensions with Russia. The question remains, what was this test about?
Also read: Osy to Ukraine from NATO. The 9K33 Osa missile systems have added to the arsenal of defenders
It was not one of the initial tests that the missiles initially undergo, because this time it concerned not only the flight with the suspended HAWC by Lockheed Martin and Aerojet Rocketdyne under the wing of the B-52 Stratofortress bomber. In fact, this projectile was propelled by the plane until the Aerojet scramjet engine ignited, and then quickly attained speeds above Mach 5. It is said that he kept this speed for a long time, soared to the ceiling of over 19.8 km and flew 55 km.
Also read: The new deFNder system from FN Herstal is to fight enemy drones. Demonstrations confirmed this
According to the latest information, the second HAWC test to date (both successful) took place shortly after Russia announced the use of one of its hypersonic weapons against Ukraine and in the same week (March 23) that President Joe Biden traveled to Europe. Interestingly, a dozen or so days earlier, the US decided to postpone the test of the new version of the Minuteman III ICBM to an indefinite period of time.
Also read: From the bunker to Iła, or Putin’s last rescue. We are talking about the Ił-80 aircraft
It is worth recalling that the HAWC program, tormented by delays, aims to develop the basic technologies required for hypersonic cruise missiles with the above-mentioned scramjet engines. With this type of weapon, the US would significantly increase its ability to precisely target specific land targets, certainly bypassing air defense.
