Will any branch of the U.S. military have hypersonic weapons operationally deployed with field units, aboard naval vessels, or on aircraft by 30 April 2026?
Started
Dec 19, 2025 05:00PM UTC
Closing May 01, 2026 04:00AM UTC
Closing May 01, 2026 04:00AM UTC
Topics
Seasons
Hypersonic weapons, which travel at speeds exceeding Mach 5 (approximately 3,800 miles per hour), represent a new class of weaponry for the U.S. military designed to strike time-critical, heavily defended targets with minimal warning. The U.S. is developing three primary hypersonic weapons programs: the Army's Long-Range Hypersonic Weapon (LRHW), also known as Dark Eagle; the Navy's Conventional Prompt Strike (CPS); and the Air Force's Hypersonic Attack Cruise Missile (HACM) (Army Recognition).
As of December 2025, the Army's Dark Eagle program is closest to operational deployment. The 5th Battalion, 3rd Field Artillery Regiment at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington, received ground equipment in 2021 and has been training on the system while awaiting live missiles (Defense News). According to the Army's program executive officer for missiles and space, the final batch of missiles for the first battery was expected to be delivered by the end of December 2025 (Interesting Engineering). The Army and Navy conducted a successful end-to-end flight test of the Common Hypersonic Glide Body in December 2024 at Cape Canaveral (Wikipedia). However, as of March 2025, decisions on when the system will achieve Initial Operational Capability (IOC) remain pending approval from senior Army leadership following the presidential transition (Breaking Defense).
The Navy's CPS program has experienced delays, with testing aboard USS Zumwalt now projected for 2027 or 2028 rather than the original 2025 timeline (USNI News). The Air Force's hypersonic programs remain in development and testing phases, with fiscal year 2026 funding designated for continued development rather than operational deployment (DefenseScoop).
Resolution Criteria:
This question will be resolved using official announcements from the U.S. Department of Defense, military service branch press releases and official websites, and credible reporting from established defense media outlets including Defense News, Breaking Defense, USNI News, and Military.com.
This question will resolve “Yes” if, on or before 30 April 2026, reports indicate that any branch of the U.S. military has hypersonic weapons operationally deployed with field units or aboard naval vessels.
Operational deployment will be confirmed by official U.S. military announcements declaring Initial Operational Capability (IOC) or equivalent operational status for a hypersonic weapon system. If official announcements are unavailable, administrators will rely on credible defense media reporting, citing military officials or sources, confirming that a hypersonic weapon system has achieved operational status
For the purposes of this question, operational status means:
- For ground-launched systems (Army): A field artillery unit has received complete equipment including live missiles, has completed training and certification, and is confirmed available for operational tasking by combatant commanders
- For ship-launched systems (Navy): A naval vessel has operational hypersonic launch capability installed with live missiles aboard, and the vessel and crew are confirmed operationally ready and available for tasking
- For air-launched systems (Air Force): An operational aircraft squadron has been equipped with hypersonic missiles, pilots and crew have completed training and certification, and the squadron is confirmed available for operational tasking by combatant commanders
When relying on media reporting rather than official announcements, operational status must be clearly distinguished from test or training status.
The following will NOT be sufficient for resolution:
- Delivery of equipment or missiles to a unit without confirmation of operational readiness or availability for tasking
- Test deployments or exercises conducted for training, demonstration, or developmental testing purposes
- Forward deployment of equipment for exercises (such as the July 2025 Australia deployment) without operational status
- Contractor-led testing or government developmental testing not involving operational units certified for combat tasking
- Announcements of future deployment timelines or plans without confirmation that operational capability has been achieved.