LE BOURGET – Preliminary tests of the latest American hypersonic missiles, the development of which conduct one of the leading companies of the US military-industrial complex Raytheon, will begin not earlier than the end of 2020. This was told to FreeNews the source in Raytheon at the 53rd Paris aviation and space salon.

“The development has entered an active phase. The concept of the rocket is created, its layout is assembled, and flight characteristics are determined. However, there are problems with the creation of the engine. Their decision pushes the beginning of preliminary tests of the rocket at least at the end of next year,” the source said, adding that the developer has the task to achieve a rocket speed of at least Mach number equal to 5.

“At the moment, it is difficult to talk about any use of this missile, since its development is in the initial stage, and the Pentagon’s requirements for hypersonic weapons are only being determined. However, we consider a new missile in the first place as an aviation ordnance land sea targets,” – said the representative of the developer, noting that the feasibility of integration of the rocket part of the ground tactical missile systems and warships yet to be explored.

The concept of a hypersonic missile was first presented at the Paris air show in Le Bourget. It is developed under the program HAWC (Hypersonic Air-breathing Weapon Concept), initiated by the Office of advanced research projects of the US Department of Defense.

The American company Northrop Grumman also takes part in the development of the rocket.