Pentagon tests missile that flies at five times the speed of sound

The US army launched the Advanced Hypersonic Weapon from the military's Pacific Missile Range Facility on Kauai at about 1:30 a.m local time.

The weapon's "glide vehicle" reached Kwajalein Atoll - some 2,300 miles away - in less than half an hour, said Lt. Col Melinda Morgan, a Pentagon spokeswoman.

Earlier this year, the Congressional Research Service said in a report the Advanced Hypersonic Weapon is part of the military's programme to develop "prompt global strike" weapons that would allow the US to strike targets anywhere in the world with conventional weapons in as little as an hour.

The US air force and the Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA, are developing a similar vehicle.