The service said in a statement that a B-52H Stratofortress bomber released an AGM-183A Air-launched Rapid Response Weapon (ARRW) off the Southern California coast on Saturday, The Hill reported.
After the weapon separated from the aircraft, its booster ignited and burned for duration, the statement said. The weapon achieved hypersonic speeds five times the speed of sound.
The test comes as the US races to develop hypersonic weapons, which can travel faster than the speed of sound, to counter adversaries like Russia and China.
The ARRW, developed by Lockheed Martin, was designed to destroy flexible time-sensitive targets at risk in contest environments, the Air Force said. It added that the weapon would “expand precision-strike capabilities by enabling rapid response strikes against heavily defended land targets.”
The Air Force has previously tried to test this weapon, but in April, the missile did not launch. The service decided to delay the program by up to a year after the failed test in April and subsequent failed tests, CNN reported in April.