China and Russia already wield missiles that travel faster than the speed of sound, but the U.S. Air Force announced this month that it will test a hypersonic missile of its own that it hopes to make available to warfighters in the early 2020s.
The 412th Test Wing will conduct a first booster test flight of the AGM-183A Air-launched Rapid Response Weapon sometime in March, the Air Force announced, flying the weapon on a B-52 bomber over the Point Mugu Sea Range in California. The weapon will separate and test boosters before disintegrating in the atmosphere.
Hypersonic speed is defined as five times that of sound. Modern hypersonic cruise missiles can travel up to 15 times the speed of sound and maneuver while in flight, making them difficult to counter.
The difficulty of defending against hypersonic weapons was on the minds of senators Tuesday at a hearing with the chief of U.S. Northern Command, who is responsible for protecting the homeland.
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“I am concerned about the ability going forward to track and assess hypersonics,” Gen. Glen VanHerck told senators. “So we must go to space.”
VanHerck, who also leads North American Aerospace Defense Command, described how, in coordination with the Missile Defense Agency, the United States will use space-based capabilities to track the maneuverability of hypersonic missiles and provide fire control data to the weapon systems that will attempt to counter a potential strike.
But soon, the U.S. will bring online its own hypersonic weapons capable of destroying high-value, time-sensitive targets.
Brig. Gen. Heath Collins, Air Force program executive officer for weapons, said in a statement that the Air Force has maintained a “laser focus on engineering rigor.”
“Our first [booster test flight] will happen in the next 30 days, followed by several additional boosters and all-up-round test flights by the end of the year,” he said.
The booster test vehicle was designed to reach the high speeds necessary to hit required targets. The test that will take place this month will be the eighth flight test for the Lockheed Martin-designed weapon.
Following extensive ground and flight tests, the so-called BTF-1 test will prove the booster’s ability to reach operational speeds and collect vital data, demonstrate a safe separation, and control from the B-52.
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The advantage of a hypersonic weapon is its survivability because of the difficulty of missile-defense systems to strike such a high-speed weapon.
The Air Force said the Air-launched Rapid Response Weapon “expands precision-strike weapon systems’ capabilities by enabling survivable rapid response strikes against heavily defended targets.”