Missile without warhead
According to a military official, the United States released a version of Lockheed Martin’s Hypersonic Air Breathing Weapon Concept (HAWC). The flight began from a West Coast B-52 bomber. Initially, the rocket stage dispersed, and then the air-breathing engine accelerated the vehicle to Mach 5 and beyond.
Sources from a television channel reported that the rocket climbed above 65,000 feet (more than 19 km) and traveled over 300 miles (480 km). Even at the lower end of the hypersonic range, speeds around 3,800 miles per hour (roughly 6,000 km per hour) mean a 300-mile trajectory can be completed in under five minutes.
The HAWC concept hypersonic missile did not carry a warhead; instead, it relied on its kinetic energy to neutralize targets.
The report notes that Washington seeks to avoid steps or statements that could unnecessarily escalate tensions with Moscow. Consequently, the United States canceled a Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile test on a recent Friday to prevent misinterpretations by Russia.
The United States has also been cautious about the weapons and equipment it sends to Ukraine. For instance, officials opposed deploying warplanes to Ukraine, worried that Moscow might view such a move as NATO and U.S. entry into the conflict. For the same reasons, authorities kept the hypersonic missile test under wraps.
“He’s Almost Unstoppable”
The report indicates the test occurred shortly after Russia announced its own deployment of the Kinzhal hypersonic missile in Ukraine.
Major General Igor Konashenkov, spokesman for the Russian Ministry of Defense, stated that on March 18 the Kinzhal aviation missile system destroyed a large underground depot and aviation munitions in the village of Delyatyn within Ivano-Frankivsk region. He asserted that Russia would continue using Kinzhal in Ukraine, and later claimed the missile struck an arsenal more than 1,000 kilometers away.
He emphasized that the Kinzhal hypersonic missile operates at distances beyond 1,000 kilometers and that its flight time was under ten minutes. The warhead’s kinetic energy enabled it to breach a fortified underground facility built during the Soviet era to store special munitions, according to him.
Air-based Kinzhal missiles represent a modern class of strategic weapons. They can maneuver along their trajectory, making interception exceedingly difficult. Officials have described intercepting a Mach 10 fast-moving, maneuvering target as nearly impossible for today’s air and missile defense systems.
Nevertheless, U.S. officials later downplayed Russia’s use of hypersonic missiles. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin remarked that the Kinzhal launch should not be treated as a landmark, and Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby questioned the justification for the attack, noting it targeted fixed storage facilities rather than a broader battlefield objective.
“This is a serious blow to a target like this,” Kirby commented.
President Joe Biden also commented on the first combat use of the Dagger, highlighting the vulnerability of hypersonic missiles. He noted that the weapon shares the same warhead as others but stresses that its speed makes it nearly unstoppable.
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