The US military has successfully tested a missile that travels at five times the speed of sound.

The ''Advanced Hypersonic Weapon'' will be able to bomb anywhere in the world within an hour.

Amid heightened tensions with Iran over its nuclear program, the missile was fired from a US base in Hawaii. It reached its destination on an island 3700 kilometres away in the Pacific Ocean in less than half an hour.

The weapon is part of a scheme to allow American generals to ''destroy, delay, or disrupt key enemy targets'' at very short notice. A report published by the US Defence Department said the weapon would ''provide the president with the ability to promptly engage targets at strategic range without using nuclear weapons''.

It is also intended that the ''prompt global strike'' system will allow America to deliver long-range weapons without the need to fly over third-party states. Lieutenant-Colonel Melinda Morgan, a Pentagon spokeswoman, declined to say how soon the weapon could be ready for use. She said further testing was likely. ''We are investigating technologies and concepts.''

Asked whether the weapon was being developed with any specific mission in mind, she said: ''We are reviewing our mission requirements.''