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Experimental ’Hypersonic Weapon’ By U.S. Military Destroyed After Launch

Experimental ’Hypersonic Weapon’ By U.S. Military Destroyed After Launch
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A U.S. experimental hypersonic weapon which could one day be capable of striking any target around the world within an hour has been destroyed seconds after launching from a U.S. military test-bed in Alaska on Monday.

Experimental ’Hypersonic Weapon’ By U.S. Military Destroyed After Launch

The weapon, known as the "Advanced Hypersonic Weapon" and which is being developed by the U.S. military, self-destructed four seconds after its launch from a test range in Alaska on Monday after controllers detected a problem with the aircraft, according to the Pentagon.

A spokeswoman for the U.S. War Department, Maureen Schumann, said that the craft was destroyed to ensure public safety, and that no one was injured in the incident, which occurred at the Kodiak Launch Complex in Alaska. 

The weapon, described by the Army as a first-of-its-kind glide vehicle, was supposed to fly from Alaska to the Kwajalein Atoll during Monday's test.

"We had to terminate. That's correct," Schumann said. "The weapon exploded during takeoff and fell back down in the range complex," she said, adding that the test craft was destroyed in the first four seconds of its launch.

The weapon was developed by Sandia National Laboratory and the U.S. Army as part of the military's "Conventional Prompt Global Strike" technology development program.

According to a declassified environmental impact assessment released in June 2011, the weapon is intended to give the U.S. president "the ability to promptly engage targets at a strategic range without using nuclear weapons." 

When perfected, designers hope the weapon - a "hypersonic glide body" released from the nose-cone of a rocket that carries it to the edge of the earth's atmosphere - will reach a speed of Mach 5, or 3,600 miles per hour.

Schumann said the craft one of several platforms being tested as part of the "Prompt Global Strike program."

Moreover, the craft had successfully flown the 2,500 miles from Hawaii to the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands during a previous test in November 2011, she said.

Schumann said officials from the program, the U.S. Army, Navy and Missile War Agency were conducting an extensive investigation to determine the cause of the accident. 

The investigation will inform future tests for the weapon and other prompt global strike vehicles, she said.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team

 

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