Roper: Hypersonics Capability Less Than Two Years Away

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Roper: Hypersonics Capability Less Than Two Years Away
2/7/2019

​—John A. Tirpak


The Air Force is slated to have an operational capability with the Hypersonic Conventional Strike Weapon by late 2020, and with a separate and more advanced capability six months after that, according to service acquisition chief Will Roper.

Speaking with reporters at the Pentagon on Feb. 6, Roper said he’s “very happy with where we are on hypersonics,” and said the HCSW will make its first flight “by the end of next year” and achieve “EOC”—or Early Operational Capability—a year after that. HCSW is based on technologies developed for the “conventional prompt strike program,” he said, and “that’s flown successfully.” He called it a “lower-risk design.”

http://www.airforcemag.com/Features/Pages/2019/February%202019/Roper-Hypersonics-Capability-Less-Than-Two-Years-Away.aspx