The United States conducted another test launch of a hypersonic missile

The United States conducted another test of the medium-range hypersonic missile Long Range Hypersonic Weapon (LRHW, also known as Dark Eagle). This was reported by the Orlando Sentinel newspaper.

"A joint team of government, academic and industry partners conducted a test at the direction of the Department of Defense at the Space Force Station range at Cape Canaveral," the publication states.

Experts are currently evaluating the test results.

The publication emphasized that the system is designed for deployment on land or at sea. Hypersonic missiles travel at speeds exceeding the speed of sound by more than five times, making them much more difficult weapons to counter after launch.

The first "successful" flight test took place in December last year, when the Dark Eagle missile was launched from a standard launcher. The Dark Eagle missile system was developed by Lockheed Martin Corporation. The missile is believed to be capable of reaching speeds over 6000 km/h.

However, in April 2025, the Asia Times newspaper wrote that the United States had decided to stop the development of the new generation hypersonic missile and effectively terminated the once promising program. The reasons included insurmountable budget problems, unsatisfactory development effectiveness, and China's military capability buildup, the publication added.