Missile Dark Eagle

The Long-Range Hypersonic Weapon (LRHW), designated Dark Eagle by the United States Army, is an intermediate-range surface-to-surface boost-glide weapon system. A maritime variant is also under development for the United States Navy under the Intermediate-Range Conventional Prompt Strike (IRCPS) program. Development of the core Common-Hypersonic Glide Body (C-HGB) began under Navy leadership in 2018, utilizing design elements from the Alternate Re-Entry System tested in the early 2010s, which was based on the Winged Energetic Reentry Vehicle Experiment (SWERVE) prototype from the 1980s.

The weapon consists of a two-stage solid rocket booster equipped with a thrust vector control system and an unpowered C-HGB housed in a nose cone. Upon reaching altitude and velocity, the booster releases the glide vehicle, which descends toward the target at hypersonic speeds. The C-HGB carries a conventional kinetic energy projectile warhead.

The United States is the operator of the system. The U.S. Army deploys the weapon in batteries consisting of four transport erector launchers—each carrying two missiles in launch canisters—and a command vehicle. The U.S. Navy plans to integrate the system onto Zumwalt-class destroyers and Block V Virginia-class submarines. Ground equipment was first delivered to an operational battery of the 17th Field Artillery Brigade in October 2021, and the 5th Battalion, 3rd Field Artillery Regiment conducted a deployment exercise in February 2023.

Developmental testing began with a flight experiment in October 2017, followed by glide body tests in March 2020 and booster motor tests in 2020 and 2021. A June 2022 test failed before glide body ignition, and a September 2023 test was canceled due to a launcher mechanical engineering issue. Successful end-to-end flight tests of the all-up round were conducted on June 28, 2024, and December 12, 2024. In April 2026, U.S. Central Command requested deployment of the Dark Eagle to the Middle East during the 2026 Iran war after Iranian missile launchers were moved out of range of deployed Precision Strike Missiles.