• The United States has deployed its ‘Dark Eagle’ Long-Range Hypersonic Weapon (LRHW) during the Talisman Sabre military drills in Australia.
• Designed for strategic attack missions, the Dark Eagle is a land-based hypersonic missile system capable of penetrating anti-access/area-denial (A2/AD) defenses, suppressing long-range enemy fire, and delivering precision strikes.
• Developed by Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman, the Dark Eagle can strike targets up to 1,700 miles (2,735 km) away.
• The system includes a mobile ground-based battery with four Transporter Erector Launchers (TEL), each capable of firing two missiles for a total of eight.
• The missile uses a solid-fueled two-stage rocket booster and carries a Common Hypersonic Glide Body (C-HGB) — an unpowered, highly maneuverable warhead capable of reaching Mach 17.
• It ascends to the edge of space, travels through the upper atmosphere beyond the reach of most enemy defenses, and then maneuvers toward its target, making interception extremely difficult.