Air-launched hypersonic weapon fails in botched Air Force booster test Print this article The Air Force's race to develop and field hypersonic weapons (and catch up to America’s rivals in that realm) suffered a setback during a flight test Monday when a booster failed to separate from the B-52 bomber on which it was mounted. The AGM-183A Air-launched Rapid Response Weapon program had intended to test boosters at high altitude that are designed to bring a weapon to hypersonic speeds before disintegrating in the atmosphere. Hypersonic speed is defined as five times that of sound. Russia and China have made heavy investments in hypersonic weapons programs in recent decades, surpassing American development. The current effort is critical to the United States preventing its peer adversaries from having a battlefield edge.