The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and the U.S. Air Force recently successfully tested a hypersonic cruise missile produced by Lockheed Martin, the country’s second successful in-flight test of such a weapon.
Why it matters: Disclosure of the test comes amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, during which Russian forces have used hypersonic missiles against Ukrainian targets.
- Certain missiles have been able to fly at hypersonic speeds for several decades now, but newer, specific types of hypersonic missiles are being developed to be highly maneuverable in flight, making them difficult to detect on radars and destroyed with missile defense systems…
