Army, Navy conduct key hypersonic missile test

The Army and Navy on Thursday completed a successful all-up round test of the Common Hypersonic Glide Body, potentially paving the way for the services to begin fielding the long-awaited system.

The glide body was developed jointly between the two services. The Army plans to integrate its version of the system, the Long Range Hypersonic Weapon, into a mobile ground platform. The Navy will integrate its version, dubbed Conventional Prompt Strike, into a ship-launched capability.

“This test builds on several flight tests in which the Common Hypersonic Glide Body achieved hypersonic speed at target distances and demonstrates that we can put this capability in the hands of the warfighter,” Army Secretary Christine Wormuth said in a Pentagon statement.

The launch took place at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The Defense Department did not offer further details about the event, which represents the glide body’s second successful all-up round test this year.

Hypersonic systems can fly and maneuver at five times the speed of sound — and the Pentagon has been trying to field them for decades. The Army had planned to make a LRHW fielding decision by the end of fiscal 2023, but delayed that milestone after several aborted tests last year. The service now plans to make a fielding decision next year.

Doug Bush, the Army’s acquisition executive, told reporters this earlier this year that the all-up round test is critical to making sure the system is “safe and effective” and ready to field.

The Navy, meanwhile, plans to start fielding Conventional Prompt Strike on its Zumwalt-class destroyer in FY25 and its Virginia-class submarine in FY29.

Leidos is the prime contractor for the Common Hypersonic Glide Body, and Lockheed Martin is the prime contractor for both LRHW and the Navy’s Conventional Prompt Strike program.