US army wants to spend $1.1bn to develop and buy the first LRHW hypersonic missiles with a range of more than 2,700km

The US Army plans to adopt hypersonic weapons in a few months' time. The draft budget for fiscal year 2024 envisages the purchase of the first missiles.

Here's What We Know

The US Army has requested $944 million from Congress to continue development of the Long-Range Hypersonic Weapon (LRHW). Also in fiscal 2024, the Army wants to purchase hypersonic missiles. This will require another $157 million.

The LRHW consists of a rocket booster that carries a C-HGB hypersonic warhead. Upon reaching the required speed and altitude, the launcher releases the C-HGB. The gliding vehicle glides at hypersonic speed towards its target. The launch range will be over 2,700 km.

The US Army is developing hypersonic weapons in conjunction with the Navy. The service plans to conduct two more tests before the end of 2023, but the timeline has not been specified for security reasons.

Source: Defence News