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The U.S. Air Force completed the final planned flight test of Lockheed Martin’s AGM-183A Air-Launched Rapid Response Weapon (ARRW) in March 2024. The test campaign’s completion did not mean the missile entered routine production or service: the Department of Defense later told the Government Accountability Office (GAO) that the ARRW effort was complete, with no further development planned.
What was tested?
ARRW—pronounced “Arrow”—is an air-launched, boost-glide weapon developed by Lockheed Martin for the Air Force. It was designed for conventional long-range strikes from a bomber, with a B-52H Stratofortress serving as its launch aircraft. It is distinct from air-breathing hypersonic cruise missiles such as the separate Hypersonic Attack Cruise Missile (HACM).
The March 2024 event was described as an all-up-round (AUR) test: a flight test using a missile configured close to its intended operational form, rather than a test of an isolated component. The B-52H launched from Andersen Air Force Base in Guam, with the test taking place over the Pacific. An end-to-end test can assess the sequence from aircraft release and booster operation through glide-body separation and flight, including guidance and control. Public reporting does not provide a complete technical scorecard showing which performance targets were met.
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Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Lockheed Martin said the test program was complete and expressed confidence in ARRW’s capabilities. That statement should not be confused with independent confirmation that every specification was demonstrated or that the weapon received operational qualification. The careful description is that the Air Force completed the final planned end-to-end test of the rapid-prototyping campaign. Defense News reported the March 2024 test, and May 2024 Senate Armed Services Committee testimony also described ARRW’s final all-up-round test as completed.
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How a boost-glide weapon works
ARRW’s booster was intended to accelerate the weapon after release from the bomber. The glide body then separates and travels toward its target at hypersonic speed. “Hypersonic” generally means at least Mach 5, or five times the speed of sound; that is a general definition, not a verified ARRW speed figure. Unlike a scramjet-powered cruise missile, a boost-glide weapon gets its initial acceleration from a rocket booster and then glides.
The intended military value is a combination of speed, stand-off launch distance and maneuvering flight, which can reduce a target’s response time and complicate some air-defence efforts. Those are design goals, not proof that ARRW was fielded or demonstrated every claimed advantage in service. Public sources do not establish a definitive unclassified figure for ARRW’s range, terminal speed or warhead effects. GAO’s overview of hypersonic weapons discusses the broader speed and maneuverability challenges without supplying a complete public ARRW specification.
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A test milestone after a difficult development effort
The final planned test followed a mixed development history. Lockheed Martin and the Air Force reported a successful boosted ARRW flight test in 2022, but that event was not the final end-to-end test. The Air Force conducted another all-up-round flight in March 2023. GAO later described earlier booster-test failures and problems reported in 2023 involving the missile shroud and heat shielding. The rapid-prototyping effort was extended to conduct additional flight tests.
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That history makes the March 2024 milestone meaningful, but it does not turn a completed test campaign into evidence of a production-ready weapon. Test programs can finish with useful data or a completed prototype effort even when a service does not move the system into procurement and operational use. The GAO report on hypersonic weapons covers development risks and the earlier test issues.
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What happened after the final test?
The later program status is more consequential than the word “final” in the 2024 headline. GAO reported that the Department of Defense told it in February 2025 that the ARRW effort was complete and that there were no plans for further development. This is a reported DOD position; it is more precise than saying, without qualification, that ARRW was formally “cancelled.” It also means the 2024 test should not be presented as a recent delivery or as the start of operational service.
There is a budget-status complication. The same GAO assessment noted that the Air Force’s fiscal 2026 budget request included about $387 million in ARRW procurement funding, despite the earlier statement that no further development was planned. GAO said it would consult the Air Force about the program’s status. The available information therefore supports neither a simple claim that ARRW entered production nor a confident explanation of what the later funding request meant. A budget line alone is not confirmation that the missile is being procured or fielded.
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The Air Force was also pursuing other hypersonic work, including HACM, an air-breathing cruise-missile effort being developed by Raytheon and Northrop Grumman. HACM is a separate program and architecture, not another name for ARRW.
ARRW is not Dark Eagle or HAWC
| System | What distinguishes it | How it relates to ARRW |
|---|---|---|
| AGM-183A ARRW | Air-launched boost-glide weapon tested from a B-52H for the Air Force. | The missile in the March 2024 final planned test; DOD later told GAO its effort was complete, with no further development planned. |
| Long-Range Hypersonic Weapon (Dark Eagle) | Army ground-launched system using a common hypersonic glide body also associated with the Navy’s Conventional Prompt Strike effort. | A separate weapon. The Army announced the Dark Eagle name in April 2025; the Defense Department announcement describes its separate program. |
| HAWC | DARPA and Air Force Research Laboratory technology-demonstration effort for an air-breathing hypersonic vehicle. | Not ARRW. DARPA reported that Lockheed Martin’s HAWC vehicle completed a final flight in 2023; that demonstration does not establish ARRW’s status. See DARPA’s account. |
| HACM | A separate air-breathing hypersonic cruise-missile program. | One of the Air Force’s other hypersonic efforts, not a continuation or alternate designation for ARRW. GAO’s weapon-systems assessment provides program context. |
What the headline means—and what it does not
- It means the Air Force completed ARRW’s final planned all-up-round test in March 2024, using a B-52H launched from Guam.
- It does not mean the missile passed every publicly disclosed operational requirement, entered full-rate production, or became an operationally deployed weapon.
- It does not refer to Dark Eagle, HAWC or HACM; those are separate systems or efforts.
- Its later status is qualified: GAO reported DOD’s February 2025 position that the effort was complete with no further development planned, while also flagging a later fiscal 2026 procurement request that required clarification.
The test belongs to March 2024, not 2026. Its significance is that ARRW’s planned flight-test campaign reached its stated endpoint—not that an operational Lockheed Martin hypersonic missile was delivered to U.S. forces.
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