The U.S. carried out a second successful test of a reusable hypersonic test vehicle in March.

Axar.az informs, citing Reuters, Pentagon reported this on Monday.

Unlike single use rockets, the reusable vehicle can be put back to work quickly and more cheaply, helping the U.S. develop the next generation of arms that operate at several times the speed of sound, robbing adversaries of reaction time and evading traditional defenses.

"The U.S. Department of Defense Test Resource Management Center (TRMC), in partnership with Naval Surface Warfare Center Crane Division (NSWC Crane), conducted a second successful flight of a fully recoverable uncrewed hypersonic test vehicle in March 2025, within three months of the first test in December 2024. This test campaign marks the Nation's first return to reusable hypersonic flight testing since the manned X-15 program ended in 1968.

In both tests, the Stratolaunch Talon-A hypersonic vehicle launched from the Roc carrier aircraft, flew over the Pacific Ocean and achieved speeds greater than Mach 5 before landing at Vandenberg Space Force Base. The landmark tests supported the ongoing TRMC Multi-Service Advanced Capability Hypersonics Test Bed (MACH-TB) project," the Department of Defense said.

Roc is the aircraft that Stratolaunch uses as its launch platform. It has a twin fuselage and is currently the world's largest aircraft.