By Jim Morris, Warrior Vice President, News
Both the Army and the Navy are celebrating a successful end-to-end flight test of a conventional hypersonic missile known as the All Up Round.
The launch from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station earlier this month was the first live-fire event for the Long-Range Hypersonic Weapon system using a Battery Operations Center and a Transporter Erector Launcher.
This test builds on several flight tests in which the Common Hypersonic Glide Body achieved hypersonic speed at target distances and demonstrates that we can put this capability in the hands of the warfighter,” said Army Secretary Christine Wormuth.
A US defense official told Newsweek the launch was a major step forward toward the first operational deployment of the weapon.
Hypersonic weapons are defined as those capable of flying at speeds greater than Mach 5 (roughly 3,836 miles per hour). Combined with their maneuverability, they are highly survivable when attacking heavily-defended targets.
In additional to the All Up Round weapon, the US is teaming up with the UK and Australia to develop hypersonic missiles for submarines. It’s part of the trilateral AUKUS defense agreement.
The US has more of a sense of urgency now when it comes to hypersonic weapons, no doubt due to accomplishments by Russia and China in the field.
Last month, Russia fired what Vladimir Putin described as a nonnuclear hypersonic ballistic missile called the Oreshnik at a Ukrainian arms factory. Experts believe said the missile carried multiple warheads, which may have been a first for the war in Ukraine.
Russia has also used its hypersonic Kinzhal air-launched missile, which can briefly reach a speed of Mach 10. Ukraine claims it has show down several of them.
China, too, is ahead of the US when it comes to developing hypersonic weapons.
Last year, an American intelligence report said that China had tested an intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) equipped with a hypersonic glide vehicle. The missile, which is known as the DF-27, was said to have flown for 12 minutes, covering roughly 1,300 miles. The Pentagon says the missile may have a range of up to 5,000 miles.
That may have prompted the US Navy to take new steps to protect its ships in the Pacific.
According to a report from Reuters, the Navy is going ahead with a plan to place Patriot interceptor missiles on some of its vessels. Officials say that Patriot Advanced Capability-3 Missile Segment Enhancement could be linked with the SPY-1 radar, which is used in the Aegis missile system.
