Donald Trump is considering unleashing America's £30million Dark Eagle hypersonic missiles for the first time as he weighs up new strikes on Iran.

The long-range weapon - which travels five times the speed of sound and can hit targets up to 2,000 miles away - would be able to target Iranian missile launchers that have been moved beyond the reach of current US systems.

Despite the request from US central command (Centcom), the weapon is running far behind schedule and hasn't been declared fully operational - even as Russia and China have deployed their own versions.

The Request for Forces submission justifies the move, by saying Tehran has transferred its ballistic-missile launchers out of range of the Precision Strike Missile - a weapon that can hit targets at more than 300 miles.

No decision has been made yet on the request, Bloomberg reported, citing a source with direct knowledge. 

However, Centcom's move is yet another signal that Washington is preparing further strikes on the Islamic Republic. 

While most details about Dark Eagle are shrouded in mystery, the nuclear-capable boost-glide missile is understood to reach altitudes in the upper atmosphere and can manoeuvre itself to evade air defences. 

A ceasefire between Washington and Tehran has been in place since April 9, but Donald Trump is under pressure to either break the stalemate in negotiations or deliver a decisive blow to end the costly two-month war.

Amid the ceasefire, both sides have used the time to rearm and plan, according to Bloomberg's Becca Wasser, who said 'future rounds of fighting may be more deadly'.

The move to deploy the missile to the Middle East, if approved, would send a message to strategic adversaries Russia and China that Washington is finally able to match a capability that they've long since mastered. 

Moscow's Kh-47M2 Kinzhal entered combat years ago, as did Beijing's DF-17, leaving the US in a race to catch up. 

Dark Eagle, also known as the Long-Range Hypersonic Weapon, or LRHW, is built to glide to its target at more than five times the speed of sound.

Each battery will cost about $2.7billion (£2billion), according to the Government Accountability Office.

Its development has suffered years of delays due to the profound technical hurdles of achieving speeds of up to Mach 5, along with supply-chain issues and testing failures.