On 25 August 2014, a test of the Advanced Hypersonic Weapon ended in failure at Kodiak Island in Alaska when the three stage carrier rocket which was meant to accelerate the test vehicle to hypersonic but suborbital speed was exploded deliberately due to a detected problem with the craft shortly after lift off. This was the second test of the design built by Scandia National Laboratories. The first hypersonic glide test of the weapon for the US Army in November 2011 was a success as it travelled from Hawaii to Kwajelein Atoll in the Pacific at speeds up to Mach 8 with a distance of over 4,000km covered in only half an hour.
