US Completes Hypersonic Missile Flight Test in Bid to Keep Up With China

The missile, dubbed the Dark Eagle, can travel at more than 3,800 miles per hour and can reach the top of the Earth’s atmosphere.

The United States Navy and Army launch a hypersonic missile in this undated photograph. Courtesy of the US Navy

The U.S. Army and Navy have recently completed a flight test of a hypersonic missile as the United States seeks to keep pace with its geopolitical rivals—China and Russia—in developing hypersonic capabilities.

The military performed the flight test from the Pacific Missile Range Facility in Kauai, Hawaii, to gather data on the overall performance of the long-range hypersonic weapon (LRHW), the Pentagon said on June 28.