Long Range Hypersonic Weapon (Dark Eagle)

The Long Range Hypersonic Weapon, named Dark Eagle, is the U.S. Army's ground-launched boost-glide hypersonic missile. Dynetics produces the Common Hypersonic Glide Body, Lockheed Martin serves as weapons system integrator, and Northrop Grumman provides the two-stage booster. A battery consists of four Transporter Erector Launchers, each holding two missiles, with an effective range reported above 1,700 miles.

The first operational battery was stood up in the 5th Battalion, 3rd Field Artillery Regiment (Multi-Domain Task Force) at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in 2021, though the system spent several years in flight-test debugging before delivering its first full end-to-end test in 2024. LRHW shares its glide body with the Navy's Conventional Prompt Strike program, providing commonality across services.

Related Systems