The Army has once again missed its own deadline for fielding the first U.S. hypersonic weapon, in a sign that one of the Pentagon’s top priorities is still behind schedule.

The unit responsible for using the advanced weapon is trained and ready, but the missile — part of a $10.4 billion hypersonic program — isn’t ready for use. And while the Army as recently as last month told Bloomberg News that it planned to field the weapon by the end of 2025, the Army acknowledged this week that it missed that deadline.

“Fielding activities include the required integration, safety, and readiness steps to ensure soldiers receive a system that is reliable, sustainable, and effective in operational environments and are on track for completion in early 2026,” the Army statement said. “As the Army moves toward completion of fielding, it remains focused on rigorous testing, training, and system maturity to support successful operational employment.”

The Army missed a previous deadline of Sept. 30, 2023, to field the technology, and blew past another this past September. Missing the deadline again at year’s end is a reality check on the technical complexities inherent in ensuring the system works as intended — as opposed to any apparent lingering or unresolved flaws with the basic missile developed by Lockheed Martin Corp.

But it’s also a cautionary tale for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth as he emphasizes fielding weapons quickly and pursues a complete upending of the Pentagon’s often lumbering, risk-averse acquisition process.

The Army on Dec. 17 announced “a significant advancement of its military capabilities” when it activated a battery that operates the hypersonic missile, which is known as Dark Eagle. It didn’t mention at the time that the missiles weren’t ready.

The Pentagon has invested more than $12 billion since 2018 in an attempt to develop, test and deploy a hypersonic system. The first battery will cost about $2.7 billion, including missiles, according to the Government Accountability Office.

With China and Russia already deploying new hypersonic projectiles, the absence of a similar U.S. capability remains a concerning shortfall. Hypersonic missiles are able to fly fast — more than 3,800 miles (6,120 kilometers) per hour — as well as low, and are harder to intercept with traditional air defense systems. Russia already deployed the technology for attacks in Ukraine.

Hegseth saw the U.S. missile’s launcher firsthand on Dec. 12 on a visit to Huntsville, Alabama.

Aside from fielding, there are lingering questions on the missile’s combat effectiveness. The Pentagon’s test office told Bloomberg in October it still had “not conducted an end-to-end operational assessment” of the system and that it didn’t have data to evaluate the weapon’s “operational effectiveness, lethality, suitability, and survivability.”

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