Navy won’t conduct crucial at-sea hypersonic missile test until 2027

The Navy is two years behind in its efforts to modernize destroyers that will first carry the service’s hypersonic missiles, a lag that has pushed back at-sea flight testing for the fearsome weapons already fielded by China and Russia.

Tens of millions of dollars in unplanned work, funding gaps and other issues are factors behind why flight testing of the Navy’s Conventional Prompt Strike hypersonic missile from the destroyer USS Zumwalt won’t take place until sometime in 2027, according to the Government Accountability Office.

That testing originally was planned for 2025, the GAO noted in a report released Friday.

The report comes as Russia has fired hypersonic ballistic missiles on Ukraine at least three times since November 2024, a use of the weapon thought to also serve as a warning to NATO.

At the same time, China has a formidable arsenal of hypersonic missiles, unveiling one about two years ago capable of reaching speeds of up to 5,370 mph, the BBC reported in August 2025.

Meanwhile, the cost to field the capability on three Zumwalt destroyers and Virginia-class submarines, along with buying hundreds of missiles, has climbed about 30%, the GAO found.

Those and other program issues could be better addressed if the Defense Department had an overall strategy for efficiently managing the more than $50 billion the Navy and Army plan to spend on developing, testing, producing and fielding hypersonic missiles, the GAO said.

While the Navy and Army use the same missile body and frequently coordinate with each other on its development, investment decisions for their programs are largely managed separately, which contributes to inefficiencies and delays, the report noted.

Because of that missing piece, the two services are poorly positioned to make timely and efficient investments in key areas, the GAO said.

Those areas include addressing shortfalls on their shared production lines and ensuring the economical sustainment and performance of the Zumwalt-class destroyers.

The Zumwalt-class guided missile destroyer USS Michael Monsoor sails in the Pacific Ocean on Feb. 10, 2024. The Navy is two years behind on plans to modernize three ships of this class in order to carry hypersonic missiles, according to the Government Accountability Office. (Mark Faram/U.S. Navy)

In response, the DOD concurred with the recommendation to develop a thorough plan that outlines how all programs involved with delivering the capability should coordinate and regularly review investment decisions.

Hypersonic missiles can fly farther than most others and use unpredictable flight patterns that make them hard to defend against, among other characteristics.

They can be launched from aircraft, land, ships and submarines, travel at speeds greater than 3,800 mph and can carry a nuclear warhead.

Though the Navy, Army and Air Force are developing and testing the weapons, the U.S. has yet to deploy a hypersonic missile operationally.

The Navy and Army use different launch methods despite sharing the same missile body. The Army version of the Conventional Prompt Strike missile is called the Long-Range Hypersonic Weapon.

The Army plans to spend more than $10 billion to buy 48 missiles and associated ground support equipment, the report stated.

Meanwhile, the Air Force is developing the Hypersonic Cruise Attack Missile, with fielding of the weapon planned for 2027, National Defense Magazine reported in July 2025.

In its report, the GAO pointed out that the Navy’s cost estimate for its hypersonic missile program rose from an estimated $31 billion in 2020 to about $41 billion in 2024.

That increase came with fewer missiles, falling from 262 to 224 at an estimated average cost of about $67 million each, according to the report.

The revised estimate includes adjusted acquisition plans, a better-defined schedule and actual contract cost information, the GAO said.

“Program officials said initial cost estimates were optimistic in that they assumed no issues with development or testing of the missile,” the report stated.

The Navy and Army have conducted two successful flight tests, including an April 2025 land-based launch that demonstrated the CPS could meet range, accuracy and other requirements, the report noted.

The GAO report also found that Lockheed Martin, which is building the CPS missile body, was currently able to produce only six to seven of the 12 rounds needed per year to stabilize production.

A more labor-intensive build process than expected, complicated instructions for workers and quality assurance problems were some of the factors behind the problem, the GAO said.

The report also highlighted that the use of Zumwalt destroyers with unique radar, combat and network systems that are difficult and costly to maintain and sustain could further impact the program, especially if the Navy plans to use the vessels through their intended 35-year service life.