The ArcLight program was a missile development program of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency with the goal of equipping ships like Aegis cruisers with a weapon system capable of striking targets nearly anywhere on the globe, thereby increasing the power of surface ships to a level comparable to that of ballistic missile-equipped submarines.
[1] According to DARPA, the ArcLight program was to develop a high-tech missile based on the booster stack of the current SM-3 and equipped with a hypersonic glide vehicle capable of carrying a 100–200 lb (45-90 kg) warhead.
[2] The configuration would allow ships carrying the ArcLight missile to strike targets 2,300 miles (3,700 km) away from the launch point.
[2] Arthur Mabbett was the program manager of the DARPA project,[2] which was to develop and test two different missile designs.
[4] The reason was that more development work was needed and they could not yet reach a high enough lift-to-drag ratio system from a non-fixed-wing vehicle.