B-52 Armed With Hypersonic Missile Makes Appearance In Guam

[william]

The U.S. Air Force has released pictures of a live AGM-183 Air-launched Rapid Response Weapon hypersonic missile, or ARRW, under the wing of a B-52H bomber during a training event at Andersen Air Force Base on Guam. This very public showing of ARRW at a highly strategic base in the Pacific comes despite the Air Force announcing its intention to axe the program last year. It prompts new questions about the increasingly ambiguous future of this weapon.

The pictures of the live AGM-183A, as denoted by the presence of two yellow bands painted on the front and rear of the weapon, were released along with a brief Air Force news item about what was described as "hypersonic weapon familiarization training" at Andersen on February 27. In one of the pictures, the missile's serial number, AR-AUR-005, can also be seen. Why exactly ARRW, and a live round at that, was lugged out to Guam for this training isn't clear. Another live ARRW, serial AR-AUR-004, as well as a glimpse of a secretive air-breathing hypersonic cruise missile the Air Force has been developing, were also seen in pictures from a similarly described hypersonic weapons training event at Edwards Air Force Base in California last year.

B-52 Armed With Hypersonic Missile Makes Appearance In Guam

The public appearance of a live AGM-183A on Guam raises questions about the Air Force's previously stated plans to axe the missile.

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