US Successfully Tests Hypersonic Missile At Speeds Over Mach 5 - Pentagon

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 27th September, 2021) The United States last week successfully tested a Raytheon-built hypersonic missile that reached a speed of Mach 5, the Pentagon's Defense Advanced and Research Project Agency (DARPA) said on Monday.

"DARPA, in partnership with the US Air Force, completed a free flight test of its Hypersonic Air-breathing Weapon Concept last week," DARPA said in a press release. " The missile, built by Raytheon Technologies, was released from an aircraft seconds before its Northrop Grumman scramjet (supersonic combustion ramjet) engine kicked on. The engine compressed incoming air mixed with its hydrocarbon fuel and began igniting that fast-moving airflow mixture, propelling the cruiser at a speed greater than Mach 5."