US Army Hypersonic Missile Battery Deployment: 1,700-Mile Range
- The US Army's first hypersonic missile unit will finally receive a full complement of live rounds for its "Dark Eagle" weapons system by the end of this year,...
- Frank Lozano, the Army's program executive officer for missiles and space, told Defense News that the final batch of missiles for the 1st Multi-Domain Task Force, 5th Battalion,...
- The unit received all its launchers, trucks, and operations equipment in 2021 and trained on the system for nearly three years while awaiting the live missiles.
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US Army to Fully Equip First Hypersonic Missile Unit with Live Rounds
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The US Army’s first hypersonic missile unit will finally receive a full complement of live rounds for its “Dark Eagle” weapons system by the end of this year, marking a key milestone in America’s race to field operational hypersonic capabilities.
Maj. Gen. Frank Lozano, the Army’s program executive officer for missiles and space, told Defense News that the final batch of missiles for the 1st Multi-Domain Task Force, 5th Battalion, 3rd Field Artillery Regiment, 17th Field Artillery Brigade, based at Joint Base Lewis-McChord (JBLM) in Washington, will be delivered by December.
The unit received all its launchers, trucks, and operations equipment in 2021 and trained on the system for nearly three years while awaiting the live missiles.
Delivery delays stemmed from a string of aborted test flights in 2023, wich forced the Army to reevaluate launch protocols and missile readiness.
According to lozano, the army delivered three missiles earlier this year, with another round undergoing final checks at Lockheed martin’s facility in cortland, Alabama.
“That will complete the basic load for battery one, up at JBLM,” Lozano said.”Then we’ll start working on Battery Two.”
Long-range hypersonic capability
The Long-Range Hypersonic Weapon (LRHW), known as Dark Eagle, is a road-mobile system capable of striking targets up to 1,700 miles away.
It uses a two-stage booster to launch a Common Hypersonic glide Body (CHGB), which can travel at more than five times the speed of sound and maneuver unpredictably, making interception by existing missile defenses nearly impossible.
Each battery has eight missiles on mobile trucks. This setup allows for rapid deployment and fast strikes.The Army has already sent parts of this system abroad for training.
This includes sending units to Australia for joint military exercises. These actions show that the army is getting ready to use hypersonic weapons in global operations.
“The system gives the Army unprecedented reach,” said Lozano. “It changes the calculus on how we project power and respond to threats in real time.”
The Army’s hypersonic program has faced many challenges as it started. Several test flights in 2023 were canceled because of safety issues and problems before launch. As a result, program engineers needed to conduct a full review.
In May 2024,the Army completed a flight test at Hawaii’s Pacific Missile Range Facility. This successful test confirmed the system’s design and allowed for full deployment.