The U.S. Air Force confirmed with the Journal that personnel at Andersen Air Force Base conducted a test launch of a live AGM-183A Air-Launched Rapid Response Weapon hypersonic missile, or ARRW.
The Air Force had released pictures of a live AGM-183 Air-launched Rapid Response Weapon hypersonic missile on Feb. 27 at the air base in Yigo, Guam. B-52 Stratofortress crews from the 23rd Expeditionary Bomb Squadron, Minot Air Force Base, North Dakota and the 49th Test and Evaluation Squadron, Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana, participated in hypersonic weapon familiarization training at AAFB.
According to officials, “The Department of Defense is developing hypersonic science and technology to ensure the U.S. can rapidly transition operational hypersonic systems.”
Guam, for many decades, has been a strategic location for U.S. military operations. This is reportedly the first such test launch for a hypersonic weapon. A B-52 took off from AAFB on March 17 for the Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site, commonly referred to as the Reagan Test Site, is a missile test range in Marshall Islands. It covers about 750,000 square miles and includes rocket launch sites at the Kwajalein Atoll, Wake Island, and Aur Atoll.