“The Defense Sciences Office (DSO) at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is soliciting innovative research proposals in the area of high performance leading edges for hypersonic air platforms,” the solicitation said.
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In January French Armed Forces Minister Florence Parly has revealed that Paris intends to reach the testing stage on a new hypersonic glider design in two years' time.
On 26 December, the Kremlin reported that the Russian Defense Ministry had test-launched the Avangard hypersonic glide vehicle, which flies 27 times faster than the speed of sound and which can carry megaton-class nuclear weapons. It was launched from the southern Ural Mountains and successfully hit a practice target on Kamchatka, 6,000 kilometers (3,700 miles) away.