Aerospace company Lockheed Martin confirms successful hypersonic missile test

Jan. 30 (UPI) -- Lockheed Martin and the U.S. military have successfully completed a Hypersonic Air-breathing Weapon Concept test flight, the Maryland-based aerospace firm confirmed Monday.

The recent test of the hypersonic weapon doubled the amount of scramjet powered vehicle data, the company said in a statement. A scramjet is a supersonic-combustion ramjet engine, capable of reaching speeds up to Mach 15.

The HAWC program is being jointly developed by Lockheed Martin and Aerojet Rocketdyne on the private side, along with the U.S. military's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and Air Force Research Lab.

The military did not specify exactly when the test was conducted.

The missile recorded speeds faster than Mach 5, or 3,836.35 mph, at an altitude above 60,000 feet for more than 300 nautical miles. It was mounted to the wing of a U.S. Air Force B-52 strategic bomber and launched mid-air.

"This month's flight added an exclamation point to the most successful hypersonic air breathing flight test program in U.S. history," Air Force HAWC program deputy Walter Price said in a statement.

"The things we've learned from HAWC will certainly enhance future U.S. Air Force capabilities."

The system performed as expected.

"Affordability and reliability are essential as we work to develop operational hypersonic solutions," said John Clark, Lockheed Martin vice president and general manager of Skunkworks.

"Both of our HAWC flight tests launched from an operational aircraft and matched performance models and predictions to aid affordable, rapid development of future hypersonic weapons," Clark said.

The successful test marks the final phase of the current program, although DARPA said it will continue testing the technology moving forward by building and flying more vehicles.