LMT - U.S. Air Force successfully tested Lockheed hypersonic missile - Reuters

The U.S. Air Force successfully tested a Lockheed Martin ( NYSE: LMT ) hypersonic missile off the California cost this week, Reuters reported on Wednesday.

The Air-Launched Rapid Response Weapon is carried aloft under a plane's wing before it is launched toward its target; in previous tests, the weapon did not detach from the plane.

In a separate successful hypersonic weapon test recently, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency demonstrated its Operational Fires program, according to the report.

Operational Fires is a ground-launched system that will "rapidly and precisely engage critical, time-sensitive targets while penetrating modern enemy air defenses."

The successful tests show progress in U.S. hypersonic weapons development efforts, amid questions about cost and rising concerns that the U.S. is falling behind Russia and China in what has become a superpower arms race.

Demand for Lockheed Martin's ( LMT ) products is independent of consumer confidence and consumer behavior, Bela Lakos writes in a bullish analysis newly published on Seeking Alpha .

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