On December 9, the U.S. military made major headway in its effort to catch Russia and China, who have long outpaced us in cutting -dge weapons development.
Indeed, while our two main geopolitical adversaries have already deployed hypersonic weapons - missiles that travel more than five times the speed of sound - the Pentagon has been trapped in the testing phase.
Until now, it seems.
Because last Friday, the Air Force successfully conducted its first complete test of the AGM-183A Air-Launched Rapid Response Weapon (ARRW).
The test launch was conducted off the coast of Southern California, where it reached full speed before detonating at its target area.
The ARRW is a boost-glide missile. That means it uses a booster rocket to reach hypersonic speeds, at which point the glide vehicle separates from the booster and fires toward its intended target.
It's carried by an aircraft, such as a B-52 bomber (or potentially a B-21), and has a top speed of up to Mach 20.
The test is a massive milestone that could put the ARRW into production by production as early as FY24.
Of course, such progress didn't come easily.
The Air Force originally intended to buy the first 12 AGM-183As in FY22, but Congress cut funding for the program after a series of three testing failures.
However, with some persistence, the ARRW conducted its first successful booster test launch this May and a second in July.
Now, after five years of development, it appears to be ready for action.
And it couldn't come at a better time.