美国陆军再次错过其首次列装美国高超音速武器的既定期限，显示五角大楼的关键优先项目仍落后于计划。负责使用该武器的部队已训练完备并随时可用，但导弹本身尚未具备使用条件；该导弹属于一项价值$10.4 billion的高超音速项目。陆军上月仍向彭博新闻表示计划在2025年末前列装，但本周承认未能达成，并称所需的集成、安全与战备步骤预计在2026年初完成。

这并非首次延期：陆军曾错过2023年9月30日的列装期限，也在今年9月再次未能按期推进；年底再度失约凸显将系统按预期运作所需的技术复杂性，而非洛克希德·马丁公司开发的基础导弹存在明显未解决缺陷。12月17日陆军宣布激活一支操作该高超音速导弹（名为Dark Eagle）的发射连，称其为“重大进展”，但当时未提及导弹尚未就绪。国防部长Pete Hegseth在12月12日于阿拉巴马州亨茨维尔实地观看了该系统发射装置，同时他正推动更快列装并改革五角大楼被指缓慢且风险规避的采购流程。

自2018年以来，五角大楼在研发、测试与部署高超音速系统上投入超过$12 billion；政府问责局称首个发射单元（含导弹）成本约$2.7 billion。鉴于中国与俄罗斯已部署新型高超音速武器，美国缺乏同类能力被视为令人担忧的短板：高超音速导弹可在超过3,800 miles（6,120 kilometers）/hour的速度下低空飞行，更难被传统防空系统拦截，且俄罗斯已在乌克兰用于攻击。除列装延误外，五角大楼测试办公室在10月表示仍“未进行端到端作战评估”，缺乏评估其“作战有效性、杀伤力、适用性与生存性”的数据。

The US Army again missed its own deadline to field the first US hypersonic weapon, signaling a top Pentagon priority remains behind schedule. The operating unit is trained and ready, but the missile is not ready for use; it is part of a $10.4 billion hypersonic program. The Army told Bloomberg News as recently as last month it planned to field the weapon by the end of 2025, but acknowledged this week it failed to meet that date and said integration, safety, and readiness steps are on track to finish in early 2026.

This is not the first slip: the Army missed a Sept. 30, 2023 fielding deadline and also blew past another this September; missing year-end again underscores the technical complexity of making the system work as intended rather than an obvious unresolved flaw in the basic Lockheed Martin missile. On Dec. 17 the Army activated a battery to operate the weapon, known as Dark Eagle, calling it a “significant advancement,” without noting the missiles were not ready. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth saw the launcher on Dec. 12 in Huntsville, Alabama, as he presses faster fielding and a shake-up of the Pentagon’s slow, risk-averse acquisition process.

Since 2018 the Pentagon has invested more than $12 billion to develop, test, and deploy hypersonic systems; the first battery is expected to cost about $2.7 billion including missiles, according to the Government Accountability Office. With China and Russia already deploying new hypersonic weapons, the lack of a comparable US capability is viewed as a concerning shortfall: such missiles can fly faster than 3,800 miles (6,120 kilometers) per hour and lower, making them harder to intercept, and Russia has used them in attacks in Ukraine. Beyond fielding delays, the Pentagon’s test office said in October it still had not conducted an “end-to-end operational assessment” and lacked data to judge “operational effectiveness, lethality, suitability, and survivability.”