The US Air Force's test launch of a hypersonic air-to-ground missile is the latest step toward developing the technology.

The Air Force confirmed on March 17 that a B-52H Stratofortress launched a live AGM-183 Air-Launched Rapid Response Weapon (ARRW), the first test of a US hypersonic weapon in the Indo-Pacific area.

An Air Force spokesman declined to identify the test's objectives but said the force "gained valuable insights into the capabilities" of the missile.

"This test acquired valuable, unique data and was intended to further a range of hypersonic programs," the spokesperson told Defense News. "We also validated and improved our test and evaluation capabilities for continued development of advanced hypersonic systems."

The ARRW is one of the Air Force's two programs to develop an air-launched hypersonic weapon, the other being the Hypersonic Attack Cruise Missile.

Hypersonic missiles are defined as missiles that travel between 5 and 25 times the speed of sound, or about 1.6 to 8.0 km per second. By contrast, a supersonic missile travels at speeds of Mach 1 to Mach 5.

"The ARRW is a conventional, boost-glide, hypersonic weapon consisting of a solid rocket motor booster, a glider protective shroud, and a glider vehicle containing a kinetic energy projectile warhead," according to the Pentagon.

"A standoff air-to-ground missile launched from a B-52H aircraft, the ARRW is intended to attack high-value, time-sensitive, land-based targets."

Evading defenses

With an operational range of 1,600km, an ARRW launched from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, could reach Tehran, Iran, in a mere 11 minutes at a minimum speed of Mach 5.

While ballistic missiles have long possessed the ability to travel at hypersonic speeds, today's new hypersonic arsenal includes reentry vehicles that can maneuver under guided flight within the atmosphere, according to the Center for Arms Control and Non-proliferation.

These vehicles have the ability to undertake evasive maneuvers to overcome defenses.

While US-made Patriot missiles have seen success downing the Russian Kinzhal hypersonic missile in the conflict in Ukraine, Russia's S-300 -- an air defense missile system purchased by Iran -- has not demonstrated the same abilities.

Russian authorities have insisted that they can destroy hypersonic missiles with their S-400 and S-500 missile defense systems -- a sign that they may know that the S-300 is not up to the task.

The S-300 system, which entered service in the 1970s, is likely ill equipped to intercept hypersonic missiles, leaving Iranian airspace exposed to rapid and devastating strikes.