US Army deploys Dark Eagle hypersonic missile system to Guam

The U.S. Army deployed its new hypersonic missile, the Dark Eagle, on Guam during an exercise in June, according to U.S. Pacific Command.

The Army’s 7th Infantry Division posted images online Sunday of Adm. Samuel Paparo, commander of U.S. Pacific Command, inspecting the Long-Range Hypersonic Weapon, the missile’s official name, during the Valiant Shield exercise.

The photographs were posted on the Defense Visual Information Distribution System without information on where they were taken.

Army Maj. Jimmy Sheehan, a PACOM spokesman, said by email Monday in Hawaii that the photos were taken on Guam. PACOM did not immediately reply to a follow-up question about whether the missile system remains on the island.

Posting the missile on Guam puts parts of China within its reported range. Dark Eagle has a reach of about 2,175 miles, according to a Dec. 14 report by The War Zone of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s visit to Redstone Arsenal, Ala., where he was briefed on the missile.

Valiant Shield was held in Japan, Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands from June 22 to July 1.

Hypersonic weapons, also being fielded by Russia and China, travel at speeds exceeding Mach 5, or five times the speed of sound. Their flight paths and velocity make them difficult targets for air defense systems.

The Hawaii-based 3rd Multi-Domain Task Force deployed the Dark Eagle to Australia’s Northern Territory for the biennial Talisman Sabre exercise in July 2025, marking the weapon’s first overseas appearance. The Army gave no indication that the weapon was fired in Australia.

A Dark Eagle Long-Range Hypersonic Missile assigned to the U.S. Army’s 7th Infantry Division photographed in June during exercise Valiant Shield. The Army on July 21, 2026, said the Dark Eagle was deployed on Guam at the time. (Brandon Rickert/U.S. Army)

Plans to deploy offensive missiles to Guam were outlined in a June 16 story in the Washington Times that quoted from a report to Congress by Paparo.

The missile is designed to strike heavily defended targets in contested environments, according to a Congressional Research Service report July 7.

The admiral asked lawmakers to approve $67.4 billion for new missiles and noted Chinese military modernization, territorial expansion and deepening ties to Russia and North Korea, according to the newspaper.

Paparo asked for $909 million for the Guam Defense System which would be capable of countering Chinese ballistic, hypersonic and cruise missiles and also “provide the basis for future offensive capability.”

China’s military is undergoing “historic expansion” and training to annex Taiwan and counter U.S. and allied defenses, Paparo’s report states.

China’s military has been ordered to be ready to attack Taiwan by 2027, Paparo wrote.

The U.S. Army is developing a mixture of offensive and defensive missile capability that can deploy anywhere in the Pacific from Guam, Riki Ellison, founder of the Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance, which lobbies for missile defense, deployment and development, said by email Monday.