The United States conducted a new test of a hypersonic missile

The United States Air Force announced this Monday that he made a new “successful” test of a HAWC hypersonic missile with the aim of “improving future capabilities” of the military, according to the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.

The missile, launched from a B-5 aircraft, traveled about 300 nautical miles — more than 480 kilometers — and reached an altitude of over 60,000 feet (18,288 meters). It also accelerated to speeds greater than Mach 5 (five times the speed of sound).

“This month’s flight marks a before and after in the flight test program of the most successful Hypersonic Weapon Concept (HAWC) project in American history,” Walter Price, Air Force Deputy for the Specialized Hypersonic Missile Program, said in a statement.

Likewise, the program manager, Andrew Knoedler, assured that this missile initiative, in collaboration with the Lockheed Martin company and Aerojet Rocketdyne, achieved “a large amount of data and progress for the hypersonic community.” “The HAWC program created a generation of new hypersonic engineers and scientists”Price added.

The United States carried out the first test with a HAWC hypersonic missile in September 2021. Other powers such as China or Russia have also developed this type of weapon that is difficult to detect and intercept.

USA Y Korea of South conduct exercises based on possible scenarios to deal with the nuclear threatsUS Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin declared on Tuesday.

Both countries will carry outexercises (…) based on increasingly complex scenarios and focused on the threats nuclear on the peninsula,” Austin wrote in an opinion piece published by the news agency yonhapwithout specifying when they would occur.

Austin visited Seoul, the capital of Korea of South, for the third time since he was appointed Secretary of Defense. He is scheduled to meet his counterpart Lee Jong-sup and President Yoon Suk-yeol.

His visit seeks to improve cooperation between the two countries and put on the table the challenges that exist in terms of security.

It also seeks to reaffirm “that the United States’ extended deterrence commitment to the Republic of Korea is unwavering,” the Pentagon chief wrote.

Military tensions on the Korean peninsula have risen in the past year after North Korea conducted weapons tests almost every month, including firing its most advanced intercontinental ballistic missile.

(With information from Europa Press)

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