THE US could soon launch an incredible weaponized hypersonic missile up into space to show off their impressive war arsenal to the world.
The formidable rocket can travel a whopping 15,000mph and is set to blast across the Pacific in the latest US Air Force tests trying to humble a desperate Vladimir Putin.
Rumours of the new high tech missile started when the Air Force revealed images of the menacing AGM-183 Air-launched Rapid Response Weapon (ARRW).
Currently China are the only known country to have an ARRW and the latest US development has left Russia scrambling to get one of their own.
Pictures show the weapon, which can strike targets within 1,000 miles, being carried under the wing of a B-52H bomber aircraft at a popular US Air Force base in Guam.
The Pacific Island has been a key spot for new weapons tests in recent years.
Although rumours over the devastating weapons being officially tested are still just speculation.
The official explanation from authorities was that the images were simply made public to “show and tell” people about the training being done at the base camp.
The Air Force said the images of the live AGM-183 were taken during “hypersonic weapon familiarisation training” on February 27.
The missile is easily identified as having a live warhead due to a distinct set of yellow rings at the front and back of it.
Its serial number reads AR-AUR-005 – although sources say the US could soon have up to eight in their arsenal of weapons.
The US announced: “B-52 Stratofortress crews from the 23rd Expeditionary Bomb Squadron and 49th Test and Evaluation Squadron participated in hypersonic weapon familiarisation training at Anderson Air Base, Guam, Feb. 27.
“The crews focused on the fundamentals of hypersonics, operational and logistics considerations, and in-depth tactical discussions.”
Although the appearance of the missile has raised a lot of eyebrows.
Almost a year ago, the US Air Force announced they were discontinuing their ARRW program after several miserable attempts at building them correctly.
These failures resulted in the military seemingly giving up on the ambitious weapons.
Andrew Hunter, Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics said back in 2023: “The Air Force does not currently intend to pursue follow-on procurement of ARRW once the prototyping program concludes.”
This has led to many debating the official reason for the missiles now being back in Guam.
With speculation over if the missiles will ever be formally tested still unknown, some people have argued their reappearance is a clear sign of potential success.
Source have claimed bringing the live AMG’s to Guam just for training is highly unusual.
The high cost of the weapons being hauled across the US has made many speculate that it is actually a clear sign of them being actively tested in the near future.
Several warnings have also been recorded suggesting that the test could start as early as next week.
A number of public notices to pilots and mariners were sent out last weekend.
These pointed towards the US testing out an air-launched weapon over the Western Pacific.
A successful test will be a clear signal of power towards both Putin in Russia and China.
The US has previously been regarded as miles away from their rivals in terms of hypersonic weapons but are quickly catching up, say reports.
China’s People’s Liberation Army has already shown off their hypersonic missile with the land-based DF-17.
And they are now believed to be actively working on a number of other projects that could be crucial in defending their land.
Russia is also hard at work developing its own hypersonic missiles, according to reports form the country.
They previously fired a 7,000mph hypersonic Zircon nuclear missile in a chilling warning to the West.
Dramatic footage shows the “unstoppable” weapon ahead of its deployment on warships.
They also said they tested three “invincible” hypersonic Satan 2 missiles.
They are the only US hypersonic weapon to have been successfully tested so far.
Ex-President Donald Trump once even even referred to a “super duper missile” in his time in office – something believed to be the AGM-183 ARRW.
The powerful rockets are a spectacular sight when they are soaring through the sky.
Carried by a massive missile, the ARRW is made up of a large rocket booster with an unpowered hypersonic boost-glide vehicle on top.
The rocket stays intact until it reaches a certain altitude and speed in the air before the hypersonic vehicle is released.
The nose and rocket booster then plummet back down to Earth.
As the weapon continues on its journey towards the chosen target.
The US Air Force said: “The weapon system is designed to provide combatant commanders the capability to destroy high-value, time-sensitive targets.
“ARRW will also expand precision-strike weapon systems’ capabilities by enabling rapid response strikes against heavily defended land targets.”
Expertly developed by Lockheed Martin, the ARRW is extremely hard to detect in the sky meaning it is almost impossible to strike down.
It weighs around 3,000kg and can reach lengths of 22ft making it one of the biggest rockets to date.
The Air Force have been working on the rockets for some time now.
They also said that they have just one more live ARRW launch left to do as part of the current weapon’s program, say The War Zone.
Previous attempts have ended in misery with the first being in April, 2021.
The long-awaited test flight failed almost instantly as “the first booster vehicle flight test encountered an issue on the aircraft and did not launch”.
Carried by a B-52H Stratofotress bomber over the Point Mugu Sea Range in California, the ARRW failed to even complete the launch sequence.
The missile wasn’t released and ended up being returned to the ground fully intact.
