The high cost of hypersonic missiles will likely drive the Air Force to build only small inventories of them, relying more heavily on other types of munitions such as lower-speed cruise missiles, Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall said Feb. 15. “Hypersonics are not going to ...
hypersonic missiles
China’s August launch of a nuclear-capable hypersonic missile that circumnavigated the globe before reentry demonstrates the need for innovative solutions to spotting and tracking such threats. Unlike conventional intercontinental ballistic missiles, which follow a predictable ballistic arc, China’s hypersonic glide vehicle circled the world at ...
One day after the Space Force’s second in command warned that the U.S. is “not as advanced as the Chinese or the Russians in terms of hypersonic programs,” a media report indicated that China’s likely test of a nuclear-capable hypersonic weapon this summer included an added ...
The first battle-ready U.S. hypersonic weapon will be fielded within a year or two by the Army, and the Navy is not far behind, according to the Department of Defense official overseeing research into the emerging and disruptive technology. The Army’s Long Range Hypersonic Weapon ...
The Air Force Association’s 2021 Air, Space & Cyber Conference; Kendall on China; Raymond on the Space Force; New B-52 Engines; and more ...
North Korea tested a missile it called the Hwasong-8 “strategic weapon” Sept. 28, suggesting later that it was a hypersonic missile—but the Pentagon said it’s unclear exactly what Pyongyang flew and that it doesn’t change U.S. military posture in the Western Pacific. Gen. Glen D. ...
The Hypersonic Air-breathing Weapon Concept (HAWC) vehicle, developed under a partnership of the Air Force and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, made a free flight the week of Sept. 20, a DARPA spokesman said, but most details are being withheld. The vehicle, which was ...
Munitions needed in a near-peer competition, especially with China, may call for longer ranges, and aircraft may need to be able to carry more of them. Defense industry executives made these projections among others in a panel discussion Sept. 20 at AFA’s Air, Space & ...
Afghanistan Exit; Force Generation Redo; New PT Uniforms; JADC2 Program Office; and more ...
Lockheed Martin's Skunk Works opened a new factory at its Palmdale, Calif., location Aug. 10, where it will likely produce multiple types of secret vehicles simultaneously. The factory exploits new digital technologies and automation that offer flexibility and speed of manufacturing, especially of short-run programs. ...
The Air Force will try again to make a free flight of its hypersonic missile the AGM-183 Air-launched Rapid Response Weapon in July, Gen. Timothy M. Ray, head of Global Strike Command, said June 3 during a virtual Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies event. He's ...
The Air Force's fiscal 2022 budget request for munitions cuts deeply into production of staples like the Joint Direct Attack Munition bomb and Hellfire missile. The service, however, promises its stockpiles are adequate and that it needs to invest in new munitions that are better ...