U.S. Army’s Experimental Hypersonic Missile Test Exploded Four Seconds After Takeoff

The U.S. Army’s Advanced Hypersonic Weapon took off for the first time in November 2011 from the Pacific Missile Range Facility in Hawaii, pictured above. A second test of it Monday from the military’s Kodiak Launch Complex in Alaska took an unexpected turn when the weapon exploded four seconds after takeoff. (Courtesy of the U.S. Army)

The Army’s Experimental Hypersonic Missile Just Exploded Four Seconds After Takeoff -- Washington Post

The U.S. Army is in the process of developing something it calls the Advanced Hypersonic Weapon to strike targets anywhere on Earth within hours while reaching speeds of at least Mach 5 — that’s 3,600 mph or greater. But the latest test just ran into a major snag: For reasons yet to be determined, the weapon and the rockets propelling it exploded about four seconds after lifting off early Monday from a missile range in Alaska, Pentagon officials say.

The missile and its three-stage rocket booster system fell back on the Kodiak Launch Complex, a commercial facility on Kodiak Island, about 300 miles southwest of Anchorage. “Fortunately, no one was injured,” said Maureen Schumann, a spokeswoman at the Pentagon.

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Army Hypersonic Missile Fails in Second Test -- Washington Free Beacon
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