The US Air Force's first hypersonic AGM-183A Air-Launched Rapid Response Weapon had been hotly anticipated But the test was abandoned after the B52 bomber it was supposed to be fired from was unable to complete it launch sequence The head of the Air Force's armament program described the failure as a 'setback' The hypersonic missile can travel at greater than Mach 5, or five times the speed of sound, and is designed to be used to hit heavily defended target