Air Force Validates Loading Procedures For Hypersonic Missile On B-52s

Air Force personnel have developed and validated loading procedures for the service’s new hypersonic weapon on the B-52H bomber, reports the Air Force News Service.

Airmen from the 2nd Maintenance Group, 307th Maintenance Squadron, at Barksdale Air Force Base, La., and civilians from the Air-Launched Rapid Response Weapon (ARRW) and B-52H Stratofortress Systems Programs Office recently developed and validated the procedures to load the ARRW on the B-52H.

The validation of loading and unloading procedures enables the beginning of live-fire testing and production, the service said.

The ARRW is scheduled to begin live-fire testing by the end of the year and could enter service as soon as the fall of 2023, the service said.

The program was expedited under the fiscal 2016 National Defense Authorization Act, which supported the rapid prototyping of weapons within five years, program officials said. It will then be determined if the program was successful enough to support rapid production.