US Air Force may revive its shelved ARRW hypersonic program. DEFENSE NEWS TODAY

The Air Force wants to restart its shelved AGM-183A Air-Launched Rapid Response Weapon, or ARRW, hypersonic program—possibly moving it into the procurement phase.

Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Allvin told lawmakers at a hearing last week that the service intends to include funding for both ARRW and the Hypersonic Attack Cruise Missile, or HACM, in the fiscal 2026 budget proposal.

“We are looking, and we have in the budget submission—assuming it’s what we put forward—two different [hypersonic] programs,” Allvin told the House Armed Services Committee on Thursday. “

One is a larger form factor with more strategic long-range capabilities, which we have already tested several times. We refer to it as ARRW, while the other is known as HACM.

Breach Enemy Defenses

Hypersonic weapons fly over five times faster than sound and can change direction while in flight. Because of this, they become harder to detect and intercept than regular ballistic missiles. They also breach enemy defenses with ease, making them a major threat on the battlefield.

Meanwhile, China and Russia have poured resources into hypersonic research, eager to outpace the West. Russians even used hypersonic weapons in Ukraine, proving their combat readiness and alarming global defense leaders.

Naturally, these advances have unsettled Pentagon officials and top U.S. lawmakers. As a result, American military services now face mounting pressure to match these capabilities. Previously, the U.S. Air Force had high expectations for Lockheed Martin’s ARRW hypersonic boost-glide system.

At the time, they believed ARRW could close the gap with China and Russia’s hypersonic progress. Still, the race for hypersonic dominance remains fierce and full of technical and strategic challenges.

ARRW missiles

However, after unsuccessful tests in late 2022 and early 2023, ARRW’s future was uncertain. Andrew Hunter, then-acquisition chief, told lawmakers in March 2023 that the Air Force did not intend to purchase ARRW missiles after the prototyping phase was completed, indicating major problems for the program.

The Air Force’s fiscal 2025 budget request, released in March 2024, did not include any funding for ARRW procurement or research and development. The service completed the ARRW prototype phase in 2024.

However, in his comments to lawmakers last week, Allvin stated that the service intended to move both ARRW and HACM beyond research and development and “into the procurement range in the very near future.”

US ARRW hypersonic missile back from the dead

Allvin says, “We’re speeding up both the tech’s development and the capabilities it will create.”

Now that the Air Force’s hypersonic technology has matured, it must focus on lowering costs and putting the systems into production, Air Force Secretary Troy Meink told lawmakers at the same hearing.

“It has to be affordable,” Meink stated. “We need to be able to buy more than ten of these things. A major focus right now is increasing production and lowering costs so we can get enough of that kit to make a difference.”