According to US based Breaking Defence the US Air Force recently used the hypervelocity projectile (HVP) — a low-drag, guided projectile capable of reaching speeds up to Mach 5 — to down a BQM-167 target drone over the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico.

The BQM-167 drone “served as surrogates for Russian cruise missiles” during the test.

The HVP was fired from an Army M109 Paladin-based 155mm howitzer and a Navy deck gun during the demonstration

In 2018, the Navy reportedly test-fired 20 next-generation HVP shells from the USS Dewey's Mk 45 five-inch deck guns.