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in DOD’s recent budget requests. The DOD has requested US$4.7 decrease of US$169 million from the FY2022
billion for hypersonic weapons programs in FY2023, up from request and US$120 million from the FY2022
US$3.8 billion in 2022 and US2.6 billion in 2020. appropriation. The Navy is also developing
the Offensive Anti-Surface Warfare Increment
2 (OASuW Inc 2), also known as Hypersonic
Programmes In Progress Air-Launched OASuW (HALO)—a new start
The Department of Defense (DOD) is currently developing hyper- in FY2023. Although few details about the [ COVER STORY ]
sonic weapons under the Navy’s Conventional Prompt Strike program have been released publicly, HALO is
program, which is intended to provide the U.S. military with the likely to be compatible with the Navy’s F/A-18
ability to strike hardened or time-sensitive targets with conven- fighter jet.The Navy is requesting US$92 million
tional warheads, as well as through several Air Force, Army, and for HALO RDT&E in FY2023.
DARPA programs. According to U.S. government officials, these
hypersonic weapons programs could enhance deterrence, as well The Army’s Long-Range Hypersonic Weapon
as provide the U.S. military with an ability to defeat capabilities (LRHW) program is expected to pair the
such as advanced air and missile defence systems that form the common glide vehicle with the Navy’s booster
foundation of U.S. competitors’ anti-access/area denial strategies. system. The system is intended to have a range
of over 1,725 miles and “provide the Army with
In recognition of this, the 2018 National Defense Strategy identified a prototype strategic attack weapon system
hypersonic weapons as one of the key technologies that would help to defeat A2/AD capabilities, suppress adver-
ensure the United States to fight and win the wars of the future. In a sary Long Range Fires, and engage other high
June 2018 memorandum, the DOD announced that the Navy would payoff/time sensitive targets.” The Army is
lead the development of a common glide vehicle for use across the requesting US$806 million in RDT&E for the
services. The common glide vehicle is being adapted from a Mach program in FY2023—US$394 million over
6 Army prototype warhead, the Alternate Re-Entry System, which the FY2022 request and US$380 million over
was successfully tested in 2011 and 2017. Once development is the FY2022 appropriation. It plans to conduct
complete, Sandia National Laboratories, the designer of the orig- flight tests for LRHW in FY2022, field an exper-
inal concept, then will build the common glide vehicles. ... Booster imental prototype in FY2023, and transition to
systems are being developed separately. a program of record in the fourth quarter of
FY2024.
The Navy’s Conventional Prompt Strike (CPS) is expected to
pair the common glide vehicle with a booster system to create a Meanwhile, for the Air Force, the AGM-183
common All Up Round (AUR) for use by both the Navy and Army. Air-Launched Rapid Response Weapon is
According to the Navy’s FY2023 budget documents, the Navy expected to leverage DARPA’s Tactical Boost
intends to conduct testing in support of CPS’s deployment on Glide technology to develop an air-launched
hypersonic glide vehicle prototype capable of
travelling at average speeds of between Mach
6.5 and Mach 8 at a range of approximately
1,000 miles. Although ARRW successfully com-
pleted a “captive carry” test flight in June 2019,
it has experienced failures in all three of its sub-
sequent flight tests. The Air Force continues to
assert that, despite these failures, “it is still pos-
sible to provide [early operational capability] in
late calendar year 2022, provided future flight
testing [of ARRW] concludes as per the cur-
rent plan. The Air Force has requested US$115
million for ARRW RDT&E in FY2023—US$123
million under the FY2022 request and US$204
million under the FY2022 appropriation.

Zumwalt-class destroyers by FY2025. Although Navy officials have Two Core Technologies
previously noted plans to achieve “limited operating capability” Two core technologies are at the heart of the
on Ohio-class submarines as early as 2025 and on Virginia-class U.S. pursuit of hypersonic weapons, or those
submarines by FY2028, as well as to eventually field hypersonic that travel Mach 5 or faster: scramjets, which
weapons on Burke-class destroyers, such plans are not reflected derive propulsion from the air around them,
in FY2023 budget documents. and boost-glide systems, which use a rocket
motor to reach the edge of space and then
The Navy is requesting US$1.2 billion for CPS RDT&E in FY2023—a descend to their target. Raytheon Missiles &

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