New details about the US Army’s Dark Eagle hypersonic weapon emerged during Secretary Pete Hegseth’s visit to Redstone Arsenal, now designated as US Space Command’s headquarters, reports Tyler Rogoway of The War Zone. Also known as the Long Range Hypersonic Weapon, Dark Eagle is a trailer-launched boost‑glide system capable of traveling at speeds above Mach 5, maneuvering unpredictably, and striking heavily defended, time‑sensitive targets. Army officials revealed it has a range of about 3,500 kilometers (2,175 miles), can reach targets in under 20 minutes, and carries a small warhead relying largely on kinetic impact. Despite past testing delays and questions over lethality, the Army aims to make Dark Eagle operational by the end of fiscal year 2025, marking a major step in US hypersonic capability amid growing competition with China. Rogoway writes:
We are getting some new information about America’s long-range Dark Eagle hypersonic boost-glide vehicle weapon system from Secretary Hegseth’s recent tour of Redstone Arsenal in Alabama. During his visit, Hegseth designated the installation as U.S. Space Command’s (SPACECOM) new headquarters.
The Army’s Dark Eagle, also known as the Long Range Hypersonic Weapon (LRHW), is a trailer-launched hypersonic boost-glide vehicle system that can travel long distances at hypersonic speeds (velocities in excess of Mach 5) while maneuvering erratically through Earth’s atmosphere. This makes it an ideal weapon for striking high-priority and time-sensitive targets that are extremely well defended. […]
During a show-and-tell of Army missile systems, Lt. Gen. Francisco Lozano, Director of Hypersonic, Directed Energy, Space and Rapid Acquisition, told Hegseth that Dark Eagle has a 3,500-kilometer range. Members of the media were also present at the event, which was captured on video by C-SPAN and other outlets.
Lt. Gen. Francisco Lozano further noted that he can hit “mainland China from Guam” with Dark Eagle. […]
As we have repeatedly said, the kinetic punch this weapon provides would contribute more to its destructive power than a conventional warhead mounted in the tight confines of the conical boost-glide vehicle. Still, a blast fragmentation warhead, which was alluded to by the officer, would help with putting softer targets out of commission, like air defense batteries and radar arrays.
The officer also said Dark Eagle can cover its range in less than 20 minutes. […]
It’s also worth mentioning that Hegseth asked about how many they are producing and how fast. The Army officer said one per month, but the goal is to increase that number to two per month, or 24 a year. Clearly, the ability to produce weapons in large quantities quickly is top of the mind for Hegseth as the U.S. struggles with its supply of combat mass. Some have argued Dark Eagle is a class of ‘silver bullet’ weapon that will be built in too few numbers and at too high a cost to have a major impact in a sustained conflict.
Regardless, now that we know more about the technical specifications of the weapon system, the Pentagon could be on the cusp of finally declaring it operational.
Read more here.
