Is US Air Force Bringing Back AGM 183A ARRW Hypersonic Missile for Strategic Strikes?

Air Force Resurrects AGM-183A ARRW Hypersonic Missile Program After Budget Cancellation

Service reverses course on boost-glide weapon amid intensifying hypersonic arms race with China and Russia

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Air Force is planning to revive funding for the AGM-183A Air-Launched Rapid Response Weapon (ARRW) hypersonic missile in its fiscal 2026 budget request, marking a dramatic reversal from the program's cancellation just over a year ago, according to service leadership testimony before Congress.

Air Force Chief of Staff General David Allvin announced during a House Armed Services Committee hearing on Thursday that the service's upcoming budget submission will include funding for both the larger ARRW boost-glide system and the smaller Hypersonic Attack Cruise Missile (HACM), signaling the Air Force's commitment to fielding multiple hypersonic capabilities to counter threats from near-peer adversaries.

"I will tell you that we are developing — and you'll see in the budget submission, assuming it's what we put forward — two different programs," Allvin told lawmakers. "One is a larger form factor that is more strategic [and] long range that we have already tested several times — it's called ARRW."

The announcement represents a significant policy shift after the Air Force zeroed out ARRW funding in its fiscal 2025 budget following a troubled testing campaign that included multiple failed attempts and technical setbacks.

Financial Impact on Defense Contractors

The resurrection of ARRW is poised to benefit Lockheed Martin Missile and Fire Control, the program's prime contractor, which has maintained confidence in the weapon's readiness despite the funding hiatus. A Lockheed Martin spokesperson told DefenseScoop that the company "has full confidence in the maturity and production readiness of ARRW hypersonic-strike capabilities" and continues "partnering with the U.S. Air Force to meet the urgent needs of our warfighters."

The ARRW program has already consumed significant resources, with a total program cost of $1.7 billion through its prototyping phase. Lockheed Martin previously received a $998 million contract modification in 2019 for critical design review, testing, and production readiness support, demonstrating the substantial financial stakes involved.

Meanwhile, the competing HACM program continues to benefit RTX (formerly Raytheon Technologies) and its partner Northrop Grumman. The Air Force's fiscal 2025 budget request includes $517 million for HACM development, representing a significant increase from previous years, with total projected spending of more than $2.4 billion on the program through fiscal 2029.

In December 2023, RTX received an additional $407.6 million contract modification to continue HACM development work through 2028, while the company secured a $73 million deal in October 2024 to enhance manufacturing capacity for the missile.

The contrasting fortunes of these programs underscore the competitive dynamics within the defense industrial base as companies vie for hypersonic weapons contracts. Raytheon beat out Lockheed Martin and Boeing for the HACM contract in 2022, demonstrating how program selections can significantly impact major defense contractors' revenue streams.

Technical and Strategic Differences

The two weapons systems offer complementary capabilities that address different operational requirements. ARRW uses a boost-glide system where a rocket propels the weapon to hypersonic speeds before the payload glides toward its target, while HACM employs air-breathing scramjet propulsion developed by Northrop Grumman to travel more than five times the speed of sound.

HACM is smaller than ARRW and able to fly along "vastly different trajectories" than the boost-glide weapon, making it compatible with more aircraft platforms including fighter jets. ARRW has a claimed maximum speed of more than Mach 20 and a range of approximately 925 kilometers, positioning it as a strategic-range weapon suitable for high-value targets.

The Air Force's decision to pursue both systems reflects recognition that different scenarios may require different hypersonic solutions. HACM is designed to "infiltrate deep into enemy zones, hitting key targets while deftly evading advanced air defense systems," while ARRW's longer range makes it suitable for strategic strikes from greater distances.

Shifting Strategic Balance

The ARRW resurrection comes as hypersonic weapons development has become a critical component of great power competition. The U.S. Department of Defense has emphasized the urgency of fielding hypersonic capabilities in response to advances by China and Russia, both of which have operational hypersonic systems.

Military experts note that hypersonic weapons are "redefining military tactics, presenting new avenues for operational planning and execution" due to their extreme speed and ability to evade current air defense systems. The weapons reduce reaction times for defensive systems and complicate trajectory prediction, providing significant tactical advantages.

The dual-track approach of developing both ARRW and HACM suggests the Air Force recognizes the need for a diverse hypersonic arsenal. The Air Force has indicated HACM will be operational by fiscal year 2027, while ARRW's timeline remains to be determined pending the fiscal 2026 budget approval.

General Allvin indicated that both systems are "moving beyond [research, development, test and evaluation] and getting into the procurement range in the very near future," suggesting operational deployments could begin within the next few years.

Program Challenges and Testing History

The ARRW program has experienced a tumultuous development history marked by both setbacks and successes. The program was officially cancelled in March 2023 after multiple failed tests, but continued development following additional, undisclosed testing. The Air Force conducted what was expected to be the final test of ARRW in March 2024 at the Reagan Test Site in the Marshall Islands.

However, Lockheed Martin announced in November 2023 that the program had reached a point where the company and its suppliers were ready for low-rate manufacture following development breakthroughs, indicating technical challenges had been resolved.

The testing difficulties that plagued ARRW stand in contrast to the more successful development of HACM, which builds on the successful testing of the Hypersonic Air-breathing Weapon Concept (HAWC) demonstrator in 2021 and 2022.

Congressional and Military Support

The program's revival appears to have congressional backing, with lawmakers increasingly focused on hypersonic capabilities as a national security priority. The announcement during the House Armed Services Committee hearing suggests bipartisan support for maintaining American hypersonic competitiveness.

The decision to resurrect ARRW also reflects military leadership's assessment that the weapon's strategic value outweighs its development challenges. The Air Force has declined to provide additional details regarding ARRW's fate until the fiscal 2026 budget is approved, but the public commitment from the service's top leadership signals strong internal support.

As the United States seeks to maintain technological superiority in an increasingly competitive security environment, the resurrection of ARRW alongside continued HACM development represents a significant investment in next-generation weapons technology that could reshape the strategic balance for years to come.

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Sources

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14. Is US Air Force Bringing Back AGM 183A ARRW Hypersonic Missile for Strategic Strikes?