An experimental hypersonic glider has been launched by the US Air Force (USAF) over the Pacific Ocean from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, US.

Launched on a Minotaur 4 rocket the glider, called the Falcon Hypersonic Technology Vehicle 2, is able to travel 4,000 miles in 30 minutes.

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The vehicle separated from the booster in the upper atmosphere and glided across the Pacific at 13,000mph, according to the Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).

After the test, the craft deliberately crashed into the Kwajalein Atoll, 2,100 miles south-west of Hawaii.

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