{"id":69247,"date":"2025-02-26T20:10:18","date_gmt":"2025-02-26T20:10:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2025\/02\/26\/army-will-field-its-long-range-hypersonic-weapon-by-end-of-fiscal-year\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T01:16:21","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T01:16:21","slug":"army-will-field-its-long-range-hypersonic-weapon-by-end-of-fiscal-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/land\/2025\/02\/26\/army-will-field-its-long-range-hypersonic-weapon-by-end-of-fiscal-year\/","title":{"rendered":"Army will field its long-range hypersonic weapon by end of fiscal year"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Following a lengthy delay as the U.S. Army and Navy struggled to test the round, the Army will field its long-range hypersonic weapon<\/a> to the first unit by the end of fiscal 2025, a defense official confirmed Wednesday in a statement to Defense News.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Army had planned to field the live, ground-launched hypersonic rounds to the 1st Multi-Domain Task Force, 5th Battalion, 3rd Field Artillery Regiment, 17th Field Artillery Brigade unit <\/a>at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state by the fall of 2023. But the milestone continued to be pushed back after several aborted tests in 2023 <\/a>due to challenges at the range, related not to the round, but the process of firing up the missile for launch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Testing the all-up round was considered critical to ensure the system was safe, effective and ready for fielding, said then-Army acquisition chief Doug Bush.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The U.S. is in a race to field the capability and develop systems to defend against hypersonic missiles. China and Russia are actively developing and testing hypersonic weapons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Army conducted an end-to-end successful flight test<\/a> of its hypersonic missile at the Pacific Missile Range Facility in Hawaii in May 2024, which put the initial fielding to the first unit closer on the horizon.<\/p>\n\n\n\t