The U.S. Navy is making progress in deploying its first shipborne hypersonic weapon. Workers at a Mississippi shipyard have finished installing missile tubes on the USS Zumwalt that will replace twin turrets from a gun system that was never activated because it was too expensive.

The U.S. Navy plans to test the Conventional Prompt Strike (CPS) hypersonic missile system aboard the USS Zumwalt by 2027 or 2028. The CPS, developed by Lockheed Martin, is a hypersonic boost-glide missile capable of traveling at Mach 5 and delivering precision strikes globally within an hour.

Recent tests of the advanced weapons by both Russia and China have increased pressure on the US military to hasten their production.