Two weeks ago, an elite team completed the first successful free-flight test of the Hypersonic Air-breathing Weapon Concept (HAWC) missile. Raytheon Missiles & Defense worked with Northrop Grumman to build the prototype for DARPA.

For the test, the HAWC was released from underneath the wing of an aircraft. Seconds after it deployed, the missile's solid rocket motor boosted it to supersonic speeds. The HAWC's scramjet (supersonic combustion ramjet) engine ignited and accelerated the missile to hypersonic speeds above Mach 5 (five times the speed of sound).