美国空军已向洛克希德·马丁公司授予一份价值6.94亿美元的合同，用于生产AGM-183A空射快速反应武器（ARRW）高超音速导弹。2023年，该军种曾着手取消ARRW项目，该项目原本有望成为美军首款实战部署的高超音速武器。当时，我们对空军的意图存有疑虑，并推测该导弹可能会大幅回归，或在机密环境下继续研发。此后，该项目实现了惊人的逆转，且已有计划开发另一种变体，该变体将能利用全新的导引头打击移动目标，包括敌方军舰。
The U.S. Air Force has handed Lockheed Martin a $694 million contract for the production of AGM-183A Air-launched Rapid Response Weapon (ARRW) hypersonic missiles. In 2023, the service had moved to cancel ARRW, which had been in line to be the U.S. military’s first operational hypersonic weapon. At the time, we had reservations about the service’s intent and speculated the missile could make a major comeback or continue development in a classified setting. The program has since made an incredible turnaround, and there are already plans for another variant that will be able to use an all-new seeker to hit moving targets, including enemy warships.
ARRW合同于9月29日授予，但直到今天才宣布。目前尚不清楚根据该协议将生产多少枚导弹，也不清楚空军预计何时开始接收装备。空军此前曾披露计划将该导弹集成到其B-52和B-1轰炸机上。未来，其他具备足够大载荷能力和物理空间以携带超大型外挂武器的飞机，也有可能搭载AGM-183A或其变体。
The ARRW contract was awarded on September 29, but only announced today. It is not immediately clear how many missiles are to be built under this deal or when the Air Force expects to start taking delivery of them. The Air Force has previously disclosed plans to integrate the missiles onto its B-52 and B-1 bombers. Other aircraft with sufficiently large payload capacities and physical space to carry outsized stores could potentially carry AGM-183As, or variants thereof, in the future.
根据空军的一份新闻稿，“该合同是在战争部全企业敏捷采购合同框架下签署的，旨在实现美国‘自由兵工厂’的现代化。这一里程碑标志着助推滑翔高超音速导弹项目正式从原型研制和飞行试验阶段过渡到生产阶段，巩固了空军部署立-off（注：原文为standoff，此处指“立-off”或“超视距”）高速打击选项的承诺。”正如此处所述，AGM-183A是一种所谓的助推滑翔飞行器型高超音速武器，它利用火箭助推器首先将其带至最佳速度和高度。随后，ARRW的锥形罩脱离，释放出内部隐藏的楔形无动力助推滑翔飞行器。
“The contract was executed under the Department of War’s Enterprise-Wide Agile Acquisition Contract to modernize America’s Arsenal of Freedom,” according to an Air Force press release. “This milestone marks the formal transition of the boost-glide hypersonic missile program from prototyping and flight testing into production, solidifying the Air Force’s commitment to fielding standoff, high-speed strike options.”As noted here, the AGM-183A is a so-called boost-glide vehicle-type hypersonic weapon, which uses a rocket booster to bring it first to an optimal speed and altitude. The nose cone on ARRW then breaks away, and a wedge-shaped unpowered boost-glide vehicle concealed within is released.
随后，该飞行器以高超音速——定义为马赫数5以上——沿着地球大气层内一条相对平缓的飞行轨迹滑翔至目标。它能够在途中进行机动，有时甚至是不规则机动。速度、飞行轨迹和机动性的结合，给对手在发现和跟踪滑翔飞行器方面带来了重大挑战，更不用说试图拦截它了。因此，此类高超音速武器在穿透敌方防空系统、以极快速度打击时间敏感型及其他高价值目标方面具有特定优势。
The vehicle then glides to its target along a relatively shallow flight path within the Earth’s atmosphere at hypersonic speed, defined as anything above Mach 5. It is capable of maneuvering along the way, sometimes erratically. The mix of speed, flight trajectory, and maneuverability creates significant challenges for opponents in terms of spotting and tracking the glide vehicle, let alone attempting to intercept it. As a result, hypersonic weapons of this type offer particular benefits for piercing enemy air defenses to very rapidly strike time-sensitive and otherwise high-value targets.
空军部长特洛伊·梅因克在随今日发布的声明中表示：“ARRW生产合同‘是我们先进武器路线图上的一个转折点’。通过将ARRW从测试阶段推向生产阶段，我们正在为我们的作战指挥官提供一种可信的高速打击武器，能够穿透最先进的反介入/区域拒止系统。”空军参谋长肯·威尔斯巴赫上将在其自己的声明中说：“装备ARRW增强了我们在全球任何地方对目标构成威胁的能力。这种高超音速武器为联合部队在高度争夺环境下提供了一种灵活且快速的反应选项。”
The ARRW production contract “is a turning point in our advanced weapons roadmap,” Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink said in a statement accompanying today’s release. “By moving ARRW from test to production, we’re providing our combatant commanders with a credible, high-speed strike weapon capable of penetrating the most advanced anti-access and area-denial systems.”“Fielding ARRW enhances our ability to hold targets at risk anywhere around the world,” Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Ken Wilsbach said in his own statement. “This hypersonic weapon provides the Joint Force a flexible and rapid response option for highly contested environments.”
如前所述，空军曾在2023年决定取消ARRW项目，此前曾发生多次飞行测试失败。当时的明确意图是将资源转移到高超音速攻击巡航导弹（HACM）项目上。HACM是一种空气吸气式高超音速巡航导弹，其工作原理与ARRW完全不同。HACM目前仍在研发中，该项目现已进入飞行测试阶段，本月早些时候率先报道了这一消息。
As mentioned, the Air Force had moved to cancel ARRW in 2023, following a number of failed flight tests. The explicit intent at the time was to shift resources to the Hypersonic Attack Cruise Missile (HACM) effort. HACM is an air-breathing hypersonic cruise missile that functions in a completely different way from ARRW. HACM is still in development, and the program has now moved into flight testing, as was first to report earlier this month.
近年来已有稳定迹象表明，ARRW 的命运正在发生转变，尽管美国空军曾声称计划取消该项目，但实际上并未将其砍掉。空军 2026 财年预算请求去年证实，该军种已全面重启该项目，并寻求新资金采购实弹导弹。
There had already been steady signs in recent years that ARRW’s fortunes were changing and that it had not actually been axed, despite the Air Force’s stated plans to do so. The Air Force’s 2026 Fiscal Year budget request last year confirmed that the service had fully rebooted the program and was seeking new funding to procure actual missiles.
今年早些时候发布的空军 2027 财年预算请求进一步披露了计划，“开始 ARRW INC 2（增量 2）技术工作，包括但不限于整合预先计划的产品改进、设计、权衡研究、硬件升级、设施建设、可负担性举措和测试。”同一文件补充称，2.96 亿美元的请求将用于“支持空射快速反应武器（ARRW）增量 2 的设计、测试和评估，包括末端制导器和数据链能力，以及其他降低生产成本的举措。”
The service’s 2027 Fiscal Year budget request, released earlier this year, revealed further plans “to begin [ARRW] INC 2 [Increment 2] technology efforts such as but not limited to integrating pre-planned product improvements, design, trade studies, hardware upgrades, facilitization, affordability initiatives, and testing.”A request for $296 million would support “the design, test, and evaluation of Air-Launched Rapid Response Weapon (ARRW) Increment 2 with terminal seeker and data link capability and other cost reduction production initiatives into ARRW,” those same documents added.
总体而言，美国空军历来将高超音速武器（包括 ARRW 和 HACM）定位为未来冲突（尤其是太平洋地区针对中国的高端战斗）取得成功的关键。2024 年，一枚携带实战部的 AGM-183A 从飞往关岛安德森空军基地的 B-52 上发射，凸显了这一点。未来的反舰型号在太平洋语境下可能更具相关性。
In general, the U.S. Air Force has historically framed hypersonic weapons, including ARRW and HACM, as being especially critical for success in future conflicts, especially high-end fights, such as one in the Pacific against China. This was underscored by the launch of an AGM-183A with a live warhead from a B-52 flying from Andersen Air Force Base on Guam in 2024. The future anti-ship variant could be even more relevant in a Pacific context.
无论如何，在三年前提出取消 ARRW 后，空军现已完全扭转方向，为这种高超音速导弹下达了首批生产订单。
If nothing else, after moving to cancel the ARRW three years ago, the Air Force has now fully reversed course and has placed its first order for production examples of this hypersonic missile.
美国空军订购 ARRW 高超音速导弹投产，即曾几乎被取消的同款武器
The post USAF Orders ARRW Hypersonic Missile Into Production, The Same Weapon It Nearly Cancelled