Air Force Secretary takes dim view of ARRW hypersonic missile after latest unsuccessful test

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WASHINGTON — The Air Force’s most recent test of a hypersonic missile was “not a success,” the service’s top civilian conceded today, while suggesting the Air Force is not overly confident Airborne Rapid Reaction Weapon (ARRW) has a bright future.

“The one we just had wasn’t a success. We didn’t get the data we needed,” Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall told the Defense Budget Appropriations Subcommittee during testimony on the service’s fiscal year 2024 budget request was called just that The missile achieved “multiple” targets, but conspicuously refrained from claims of success.

kendall, who said further testing could finally determine the fate of ARRW, went on to say that the Air Force’s other major hypersonic project, the Hypersonic Attack Cruise Missile (HACM), has more promise because of its “fairly successful” development and ability to integrate with a larger number of aircraft.

“We see a clear role for the HACM concept. It is compatible with more of our aircraft. And it will give us more fighting ability overall. So we feel more committed to HACM than ARRW at this point,” he said.

The latest stumble for the ARRW program comes after the missile’s first (and successful) comprehensive evaluation in December, but only after an early series of failures. Officials continued to express skepticism about purchasing the missile in the FY24 budget request, in which the service asked for $150 million to continue its development, but again bet on procurement to allow for more comprehensive — or fully assembled — testing make possible.

According to Air Force budget documents, the service is requesting $380 million to continue development of HACM in FY24, with funding expected to peak the following fiscal year at $557 million.

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Lawmakers must approve funding for the ARRW’s research and development to proceed, and some, like subcommittee chairman Ken Calvert, R-Calif., seemed to express reservations about funding a missile that the Air Force hasn’t publicly approved praises. “I don’t like to name it [research and development] Welfare, but it seems to go on forever,” he said.

Built by Lockheed Martin, the ARRW intended to be launched by bombers to accelerate toward its target at speeds in excess of Mach 5, a capability the Air Force sought to quickly hit critical targets from at least 575 miles away, according to the Congressional Budget Office. Lockheed officials did not immediately respond to Breaking Defense’s request for comment on the report.

Two more all-up rounds exams are still earmarked for the program, which Kendall made clear would be all or nothing.

“We have two other test items that we can use,” he said. “We will likely have to make a decision on the fate of ARRW after we complete the analysis and hopefully conduct these two tests. We will, I think, reconsider when we build this [FY]25 budget to see what is done in the future.”