Hypersonic Air Launched Offensive Anti-Surface
The Hypersonic Air Launched Offensive Anti-Surface was a hypersonic air-launched anti-ship missile being developed for the United States Navy. 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. The initial operational capability was expected in 2028. The program was also called the Offensive Anti-Surface Warfare Increment 2 program.
On 28 March 2023, Naval Air Systems Command 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.
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. Tedford said that HALO may reach only supersonic speeds, rather than hypersonic speeds.
On April 10, 2025, the United States Navy cancelled the program in favor of pursuing the current Offensive Anti-Surface Warfare Increment '1', which utilizes the LRASM.