AGM-183A hypersonic missile B-52 production contract, Digi Mart USA News: Lockheed Martin has been awarded a US$694-million contract by the US Air Force to move the company’s AGM-183A hypersonic missile into production for arming the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress, according to a published report from New Atlas.
The B-52 entered US Air Force service as part of America’s nuclear deterrence triad and has remained in service for decades. Its original mission was to penetrate Soviet airspace to drop hydrogen bombs, but its role has since changed to conventional bombing and the delivery of nuclear and conventional stand-off weapons.
The bomber is expected to remain in service into the 2050s.
The Air-Launched Rapid Response Weapon (ARRW), designated AGM-183A, is designed to be launched from an aircraft and boosted to high speed and altitude by a rocket booster. It then becomes a glide body, which the report says can fly at speeds above Mach 5 and is guided by an onboard inertial guidance system and GPS to deliver a high-explosive warhead.
The contract marks the revival of the ARRW program, which faced cancellation in 2023. The B-52 was already used for flight testing the AGM-183A beginning in 2020, which the report says should simplify integration of the missile with the bomber.
Tim Cahill, president of Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control, said the production award showcases the company’s ability to develop and begin production on advanced systems at unprecedented speed and scale. He said ARRW expands the company’s weapon systems portfolio and provides a high-precision, sustained hypersonic capability for the US Air Force.
