Air Force Launches ARRW, Its First Hypersonic Weapon, into Production

The Air Force awarded Lockheed Martin a $694 million contract to produce its first-ever hypersonic missile, the Air-Launched Rapid Response Weapon, the service announced Oct. 26.

The decision advances ARRW from testing into production, a major milestone for a long-sought capability. The Air Force, citing operational security concerns, withheld details on how many it ordered or when they must be delivered.

Budget documents describe ARRW as a standoff weapon and “a lethal capability against high-value time-sensitive
targets.” It is too large to go on most fighter jets and will initially be fielded on the B-52 and has also reportedly been tested on the B-1. A multistage boost-glide weapon, it uses a rocket booster to accelerate to hypersonic speed, when the booster separates and falls away, leaving a glide vehicle that can maneuver to its target at five times the speed of sound. or greater—at least 3,800 miles per hour or just over a mile per second.

“This is a turning point in our advanced weapons roadmap,” said Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink in a statement. “By moving ARRW from test to production, we’re providing our combatant commanders with a credible, high-speed strike weapon capable of penetrating the most advanced anti-access and area-denial systems.”

ARRW development began in 2018 when the Air Force signed Lockheed to a design contract worth up to $480 million. The program built on the joint DARPA-Air Force X-51, and sought to deliver a prototype capability by 2021.

The Air Force conducted captive carry tests in 2019 and that same year awarded Lockheed a $988.8 million contract modification for critical design review. The first operational flight test was planned by the end of 2020, with initial operational capability projected in 2022.

But the first launch test, delayed to April 2021, failed and two more failures followed. The first successful test came in May 2022—at which point funding became a problem. In 2021, Congress stripped funds for 12 ARRW missiles from the fiscal 2022 budget plan, and the Air Force zeroed out funds for 2023.

In March 2023, the Air Force’s top civilian acquisition executive, Andrew Hunter, said the program would end without purchases. Air Force leaders said they would focus instead on the smaller Hypersonic Attack Cruise Missile and other reusable hypersonic systems.

In 2025, however, then-Chief of Staff of the Air Force Gen. David Allvin told Congress the Air Force would buy ARRW, and the fiscal 2026 budget allotted $362 million for that purpose. The contract was awarded Sept. 29, 2026, but the decision was not announced until a month later.

The Air Force’s 2027 budget request included $452 million for ARRW production. That budget is currently stalled in Congress, and the Pentagon is operating under a continuing resolution based on 2026 funding levels. The Future Years Defense Plan projects procurement from 2028 to 2031 to range from $556 million to $621 million per year. Quantities are dubbed “controlled unclassified information,” and not publicly released.

“Fielding ARRW enhances our ability to hold targets at risk anywhere around the world,” Chief of Staff of the Air Force Gen. Kenneth Wilsbach said in a statement. “This hypersonic weapon provides the Joint Force a flexible and rapid response option for highly contested environments.”