WASHINGTON, 13 July 2021, (TON): US defence contractors are working on at least eight separate hypersonic missile programmes for the Air Force, Army and Navy. Despite committing billions of dollars, the Pentagon’s projects have yet to produce an operational weapon. Russia and China began putting hypersonic systems into operation in the late 2010s.

The House Armed Services defence appropriations subcommittee has requested a $44 million cut in funding to the Air Force’s flagship hypersonic boost-glide weapon, the Air-launched Rapid Response Weapon (ARRW) project, Inside Defense reports.

The subcommittee did not provide a reason for the proposed cut in funding, said to be the equivalent of about four production ARRW missiles, with the cuts alluded to in a report accompanying a review of the proposed defence budget bill for fiscal year 2022. Congress is requesting a total of $705.9 billion in spending (equivalent to over a third of global arms spending in 2020) in the next fiscal year.

Developed by Lockheed Martin, the ARRW is a boost glide weapon that’s expected to be able to accelerate to speeds of over Mach 7 (over 8,575 km per hour) and strike targets up to 1,600 km away from the aircraft carrying it, which may include the B-52 and B-1 Lancer bombers, as well as the F-15 tactical fighter.