Hypersonic Air Launched Offensive Anti-Surface

The Hypersonic Air Launched Offensive Anti-Surface (HALO) was a hypersonic air-launched anti-ship missile being developed for the United States Navy.^[1] It was designed to provide greater anti-surface warfare capability than the AGM-158C LRASM and was expected to be compatible with F/A-18E/F Super Hornet.^[2] The initial operational capability was expected in 2028.^[3][2] The program was also called the Offensive Anti-Surface Warfare Increment 2 (OASuW Inc 2) program.^[3]

Hypersonic Air Launched Offensive Anti-Surface (HALO)
Type	Hypersonic air-launched anti-ship missile
Place of origin	United States
Service history
In service	Cancelled
Used by	United States Navy
Production history
Designer	Raytheon Missiles & Defense Lockheed Martin
Specifications
Launch platform	F/A-18E/F Super Hornet

On 28 March 2023, Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) awarded a $116 million contract to Raytheon Missiles & Defense and Lockheed Martin for technical maturation and development through a preliminary design review of the propulsion system. The contract was slated to begin in December 2024, with each company's initial design review working towards a prototype flight test.^[4]

However, at the Navy League's Sea-Air-Space conference's April 2023, Rear Admiral Stephen Tedford, Program Executive Officer for unmanned aviation and strike weapons at NAVAIR, said that HALO might be "a little bit of a misnomer" because it might not reach hypersonic speeds.^[5] Tedford said that HALO may reach only supersonic speeds, (high Mach 4-plus) rather than hypersonic speeds (over Mach 5).^[5]

On April 10, 2025, the United States Navy cancelled the program in favor of pursuing the current Offensive Anti-Surface Warfare Increment 1 (OASuW Inc 1), which utilizes the LRASM.^[6]

See also

• Hypersonic Attack Cruise Missile – (United States)
• 3M22 Zircon – (Russia)
• Multi-mission Affordable Capacity Effector – (United States)