US Army To Test Advanced Hypersonic Weapon Technology

The US Army will test its Advanced Hypersonic Weapon Technology Demonstration again in August to help determine the system's future.

Lt. Gen. David L. Mann, commander, U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command, discussed the status of the Advanced Hypersonic Weapon, or AHW, program, Wednesday, before the Senate Armed Services Committee, subcommittee on strategic forces.

"Based upon the results that come from that test, we'll go ahead and, again, work closely with Office of the Secretary of Defense as to what they would like us to do, what the next steps are," Mann said.

The General told lawmakers the Army is also working with the Navy on "possible utilization of this capability."

The AHW is part of an effort to develop a conventional "Prompt Global Strike" capability. Conventional means non-nuclear. The AHW can be launched from the United States and can hit a target anywhere in the world. It can travel at speeds of Mach 5, about 3,600 mph, or higher, according to army.mil

As part of the November 2011 test, an AHW was launched from the Pacific Missile Range Facility, Kauai, Hawaii, and arrived 30 minutes later at the Reagan Test Site, U.S. Army Kwajalein Atoll, Marshall Islands -- a distance of about 2,500 miles.

Mann said with the AWH, the Army is on budget and on target with the program.

"I don't see any kind of an overrun at this moment," he said. "Everything is kind of predicated on what happens after the test. We have the monies allocated to support the test. We don't envision any kind of overruns."