Dark Eagle Hypersonic Missile Tested in Secretive U.S. Launch from Cape Canaveral

The United States has reportedly conducted a secretive test of its Long-Range Hypersonic Weapon (LRHW), known as Dark Eagle, from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on Friday, according to multiple reports.

The missile, developed jointly for the U.S. Army and Navy, was launched from Launch Complex 46 towards the Atlantic Ocean. Though the Pentagon confirmed the test, it provided no technical details. "A joint team of government, academic, and industry partners conducted the test on behalf of the Department of Defense... We are currently evaluating the results of the test," a Department of Defense spokesperson said in a statement to Florida Today.

The launch was not publicly announced in advance, but maritime navigational warnings issued by the U.S. Coast Guard and Space Launch Delta 45 suggested possible hypersonic activity. The warnings outlined a narrow security zone stretching east-southeast from the Cape into the Atlantic.

The Dark Eagle is designed to travel at speeds exceeding Mach 5, or roughly 6,000 kilometers per hour. It uses a glide vehicle capable of altitude changes, complicating detection by missile defense systems. The ground battery system includes a command vehicle and four launch transporters, each carrying two hypersonic missiles, with an estimated range of 2,775 kilometers.

The U.S. Army and Navy are collaborating to develop both land-based and sea-based variants of the system. The most recent confirmed test of Dark Eagle prior to this was conducted in December.

Army officials recently confirmed that "Dark Eagle" is the official name for the LRHW program. The name was chosen to represent the system’s speed, stealth, and maneuverability, as well as national symbolism tied to the bald eagle.

The April 25 test took place less than 12 hours after a SpaceX Falcon 9 launch from the same region, which deployed 28 Starlink satellites into orbit.