The Pentagon's Hypersonic Weapon System Passes a Critical Flight Test
The U.S. military is racing to catch up with China and Russia in developing hypersonic weapons. 6park.com
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BY KYLE MIZOKAMI 6park.com
MAR 24, 2020 6park.com
 6park.com

U.S. NAVY PHOTO 6park.com
The U.S. Army and Navy tested a joint hypersonic weapon glide body last week.The glide body is the actual weapon itself, which would carry an explosive payload.The next step is actually building the hypersonic weapon itself.
The U.S. Army and Navy tested a hypersonic weapon system late last week, a test the Pentagon describes as a success. The common hypersonic glide body, or C-HGB, lifted off from a testing site in Hawaii and struck its designated target. 6park.com
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The U.S. military is racing to catch up with China and Russia in developing hypersonic weapons. Hypersonics are weapons that travel faster than Mach 5, up to Mach 20, and represent a different class of weapons than ballistic missiles and their warheads, which travel at speeds of up to Mach 24. The key difference between the two is that hypersonic weapons remain in the atmosphere during flight, while ballistic missile warheads spend much of their flight time in lower earth orbit.
C-HGB will form the basis for hypersonic weapon systems fielded by both the Army and Navy. According to the Department of Defense, C-HGB will comprise a hypersonic weapon’s “conventional warhead, guidance system, cabling, and thermal protection shield.” The weapon is launched into the air on a rocket booster, which then sets it on an atmospheric flight path that sees the weapon roar down onto target at speeds of Mach 5 or faster. 6park.com