The US Air Force has carried out its first successful full test of a new hypersonic missile as it looks to claw back ground in a superpower arms race with Russia and China.

The missile, an All-Up-Round AGM-183A Air-launched Rapid Response Weapon (ARRW) was fired off the Southern California coast and travelled greater than five times the speed of sound, before detonating in a controlled area.

Launched from a B-52H Stratofortress, the test was a significant step towards the US having fully operational hypersonic weapons that could be used in conflict or as a deterrent.

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China reportedly fired a hypersonic projectile around the globe in a test last year, while in May, a Russian warship test-launched a Zircon cruise missile that can travel at nine times the speed of sound.

Read more: The Telegraph