The U.S. Air Force is seeking $1.8 billion for further development of a new kind of hypersonic missile.

The U.S. Air Force is seeking $1.8 billion for further development of a new kind of hypersonic missile, budget documents made available in April show. For its Air-Launched Rapid Response Weapon program, the service is asking for $345.7 million for fiscal year 2027. Planned budget requests include $548.6 million for fiscal year 2028, $620.5 million for fiscal year 2029 and $242.6 million for fiscal year 2030. This was a program officials told lawmakers in March 2023 the Air Force did not intend to continue, after three failed tests in 2021 and one on March 13, 2023, according to The Aviationist. Now, the Air Force has explained in the budget documents that the revival of the program would enable informed strategic and resource decisions from derived data. The weapon would work like this: after being dropped from a high-flying aircraft, a rocket motor would boost a hypersonic vehicle and separates from it just outside the atmosphere. After reaching hypersonic speed, the vehicle would separate and glide to its target at speeds of up to Mach 15, which is 15 times the speed of sound.

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