Dark Eagle Hypersonic Missile

Dark Eagle Hypersonic Missile Latest News

The United States recently deployed the Dark Eagle hypersonic missile in Guam for the first time.

About Dark Eagle Hypersonic Missile

• The Dark Eagle, also known as the Long Range Hypersonic Weapon (LRHW), is a non-nuclear, ground-launched hypersonic missile system of the United States Army.
• It is the United States Army’s first operational hypersonic missile system. 
• The missile component of the LRHW is being developed by Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman. 
• The weapon is designed to strike heavily defended, time-sensitive targets, including command centres, air defence networks, missile launchers, naval facilities, and logistics hubs deep inside contested territory.  

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Dark Eagle Hypersonic Missile Features

• It is designed to strike targets at distances of up to 3,500  kilometers.
• It comprises a mobile ground-based battery equipped with four Transporter Erector Launchers (TEL), supported by command and control elements, with each TEL capable of launching two missiles for a total of eight.
• At the core of the Dark Eagle system is the Common Hypersonic Glide Body (C-HGB)—a boost-glide vehicle capable of exceeding Mach 5 while performing high-G maneuvers to evade enemy missile defenses.  
• The missile is launched via a two-stage solid-fuel booster that propels the glide vehicle into the upper atmosphere before it descends toward its target on an unpredictable trajectory. 
• The glide body is equipped with a conventional high-explosive warhead, optimized for kinetic strike effects and capable of neutralizing hardened or deeply buried targets.  
• The guidance system incorporates a precision inertial navigation system (INS), likely augmented by GPS-based corrections during the boost and glide phases.

News: FP