“The ARRW production decision is still based on facts and will come after operational utility has been demonstrated through successful end-to-end flight tests of the system,” the Air Force said. The ARRW rocket, built by Lockheed Martin, is designed to destroy “high-value, time-sensitive targets,” according to the Air Force. It is also supposed to allow the army to quickly hit a well-defended target on land. The delay in the program, first reported by Bloomberg, comes as lawmakers have expressed growing frustration that the United States is lagging behind rivals such as China and Russia in developing supersonic weapons. Hearing from the House Armed Services Committee on Wednesday, Alabama Republican MP Mike Rogers warned that China has “more troops, more ships, and more supersonic missiles than the United States,” while Republican Rep. that the defense industrial base must “accelerate” it in supersonic development. CNN reported earlier this week that the United States had successfully tested a different supersonic missile – the Hypersonic Air-breathing Weapon Concept – but remained silent on the test so as not to escalate tensions with Russia. The test came just days after Russia said it had used its own Kinzhal supersonic missile during its invasion of Ukraine.
