"My goal would be to bring on at least a squadron’s worth of airplanes modified with external pylons on the B-1, to carry the ARRW [Air-launched Rapid Response Weapon]," Gen. Timothy Ray told Air Force Magazine in 2020.
Edwards Air Force Base Instagram clip shows a B-1B carrying an AGM-183 ARRW
The U.S. Air Force has for the first time publicly released imagery showing a B-1B Lancer carrying an AGM-183 Air-launched Rapid Response Weapon (ARRW) on an external hardpoint. A brief clip posted to Edwards Air Force Base’s Instagram page, first noticed by The Aviationist, depicts a B-1B over a test range with an ARRW installed. The service did not timestamp the footage and the video itself is otherwise dedicated to maintainers working across aircraft platforms, so the precise date and test context of the clip are not identified in the release.
Gen. Timothy Ray’s 2020 plan and the B-1B’s external carriage history
The B-1B was originally designed with up to eight external hardpoints. During the Cold War the Air Force developed special pylons to permit two nuclear-tipped AGM-86B Air-Launched Cruise Missiles on each hardpoint; those external pylons fell into disuse after the bomber lost its nuclear mission. In 2020 the Air Force detailed plans to add ARRW carriage to the B-1B and explored options to reintroduce external pylons as a relatively quick path to fielding hypersonic weapons on the platform.
Load Adaptable Modular (LAM) pylon: capacity and test record
Fiscal Year 2026 budget materials confirm the B-1B will serve as a testbed for the Load Adaptable Modular (LAM) pylon, intended for hypersonic weapons and other outsize loads. The B-1B can accommodate six LAM pylons, each capable of carrying either two 2,000-pound-class weapons or a single 5,000-pound-plus-class weapon — the latter category into which the ARRW falls. The Hypersonic Integration Program “successfully demonstrated the B-1’s ability to execute a captive carry of a 5,000-pound-class store and the release of a proven weapon shape from a Load Adaptable Modular (LAM) pylon,” the budget documents state.
Previous LAM and external-pylon activity includes carriage tests of the Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM), demonstrations that placed an inert AGM-158 JASSM on the pylon, and routine use of that same hardpoint for a Sniper targeting pod. The Air Force’s 419th Flight Test Squadron has flown a B-1B with a JDAM on a LAM in early 2024, and Atlantic Models in Miami built a model LAM for Boeing.
ARRW program status, and Fiscal Year 2026–2027 budget moves
ARRW carries an unpowered hypersonic boost-glide vehicle as its warhead: a rocket booster accelerates and lifts the vehicle before separation, after which the glide vehicle travels on a shallow atmospheric path toward its target. The weapon’s high speed and less-predictable glide profile are described in the budget text as making interception difficult and leaving very little response time for opponents.
The Air Force moved to cancel the AGM-183A in 2023 and refocus resources on the air-breathing Hypersonic Attack Cruise Missile (HACM), but ARRW funding reappeared in the Fiscal Year 2026 request. In Fiscal Year 2027 budget documents the Air Force seeks funds to begin ARRW Increment 2 development and to stand up a new Air-Launched Ballistic Missile (ALBM) program, asking for nearly $350 million combined for those two efforts. The FY27 materials also state the service is “doubling production rates for our two developmental hypersonic weapons, the Air-Launched Rapid Response Weapon (ARRW) and the Hypersonic Attack Cruise Missile (HACM), with a planned investment of $1.8 billion across the FYDP to accelerate delivery of these critical strike capabilities into the hands of the warfighter.” The documents do not specify quantities of ARRW to be procured.
How the B-1B, the U.S. Air Force, and China are affected
- The B-1B and its crews: Fiscal Year 2027 budget documents request $342 million to modernize the Air Force’s 44 remaining B-1Bs from 2027 to 2031, with the stated aim of ensuring the platform’s “lethality and relevance through 2037.” That modernization dovetails with the platform’s re-emergent role as a testbed and external-weapons carrier.
- The U.S. Air Force and program managers: The service is positioning the B-1B as a rapid integration point for hypersonic and outsize munitions via the LAM pylon while pursuing ARRW Increment 2, HACM, and a new ALBM program. Budget moves to double production rates and to invest $1.8 billion across the FYDP signal an intent to accelerate deliveries even as earlier cancellation plans are reversed.
- China: The budget materials explicitly note that these developments are notable as China continues to advance related capabilities, including air-launched ballistic missiles; the source includes imagery references to Chinese JL-1 ALBM mockups on parade in Beijing.
The Edwards Instagram clip is a visible, if untimed, marker that the Air Force is actively testing or demonstrating external hypersonic carriage on a platform expected to remain in service through 2037. The Fiscal Year 2027 budget request cements a broader decision path: invest in B-1B modernization, accelerate ARRW and HACM production, and fund ARRW Increment 2 and a new ALBM program. What remains to be seen — and what the budget documents themselves leave unspecified — is how many ARRW rounds will be ordered and how rapidly operational deployments will follow these development and modernization steps.
Source: The War Zone — B-1B Seen Carrying ARRW Hypersonic Missile For The First Time
