According to a March 19, 2021 column on Drive's website Warzone, the U.S. Army delivered the first batch of training launchers to its newly formed hypersonic missile company, but would not disclose its deployment base.
The U.S. Army has taken an important step toward establishing the first high-speed missile force, delivering two sets of inert launchers for training purposes. These inert launchers are identical to the design of the launchers used in the final long-range hypersonic missile (LRHW) and will provide troops with the opportunity to conduct advanced operational training in simulated real-world combat environments.
The Pentagon released photos of the two sets of launchers to the outside world on March 17, 2021, but the photos showed that they were taken on March 10. Lt. Gen. L. Neil Thurgood, chief of the U.S. Army's Office of Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technology, said in an interview with Defense News in February that he would personally oversee the delivery of the training aids on March 8. Later in 2021, the U.S. Army will deliver all other related ground equipment for long-range hypersonic weapons (LRHW) missile companies.
[U.S. Army Delivers First Launchers to New Hypersonic Missile Company]
The generic instructions accompanying the delivery photos of the launcher show that the LRHW missile company will complete a live-fire deployment in fiscal year 2023. The Army has not yet disclosed the official name of the first LRHW missile company, or even its deployment base. The fact that the photographs of the delivery of the launchers were taken only in the United States and that none of the persons in the photographs wore patches of their units and some of them did not even have name stickers on their uniforms further underscores the high degree of secrecy with which the deployment of the LRHW missile company is.
The article notes that the side of the launcher appears to show its full load of 9300 kg and its own weight of 1900 kg, which may indicate that the LRHW missile weighs about 7400 kg.
In any case, the delivery of these launchers is an important achievement and also brings the U.S. Army one step closer to the actual deployment of the LRHW, which will become the first hypersonic combat weapon deployed by the U.S. military in actual combat. The U.S. Navy and Army have been jointly developing hypersonic weapons, and the Design of the Army's LRHW missile and the Navy's Medium Range Conventional Rapid Strike (IRCPS) weapons are virtually identical, except that they will use different launchers, and they will both use the same cone-shaped unpowered hypersonic booster glider, also known as the Hypersonic Glider (C-HGB).
Both LRHW and IRCPS use large rocket boosters to launch C-HGB to optimal speed and altitude. After that, the vehicle glided toward the target at hypersonic speed (defined as Mach 5 or more) along a relatively horizontal flight trajectory. The Pentagon has previously said the C-HGB will be able to "hit targets hundreds or even thousands of kilometers away" at a maximum speed of Mach 17.
[Two long-range hypersonic weapon (LRHW) launchers have been successfully handed over]
The trajectory of this hypersonic vehicle is more unpredictable than that of conventional ballistic missiles, which makes hypersonic weapons extremely difficult to defend and makes it difficult for opponents to react to incoming missiles. The description on the launcher delivery photos shows that the LRHW will bring the Army "a new capability, providing a unique combination of speed, maneuverability and height to defeat time-sensitive, well-defended and high-value targets."
Dynetics, a key player in the Lockheed Martin-led team to develop both weapons, has been responsible for the design of the C-HGB, which stems from previous work at the U.S. Department of Energy's Sandia National Laboratory. Defense News reports that it is the first hypersonic booster glide vehicle to be produced entirely at U.S. industrial bases, rather than at a U.S. government-owned facility.
Flight tests of the C-HGB have already begun, but the U.S. Army and Navy will begin joint testing of the LRHW/IRCPS prototype this year. However, the U.S. Army's first hypersonic missile company will not participate in any such testing activities until fiscal year 2022.
【The moment of launch of the Army's LRHW hypersonic missile system】
This makes the launcher even more important because it will give soldiers a way to start a certain amount of operational training before the prototype is tested. Additional equipment associated with testing prototypes that the U.S. Army's Hypersonic Missile Company plans to receive this year could include missile launchers, as well as other equipment that the force should have to complete the procedures needed to actually use the missile. The Defense News has reported that the launchers will be used for "end-to-end kill chain training."
All of this training is important because the U.S. Army hopes that the first hypersonic missile company will provide at least limited combat capabilities when built, and deployment is expected to be completed in fiscal year 2023. At that time, the force is likely to participate in the exercise as it explores how to integrate these capabilities into future operations, including joint operations with other affiliates of the U.S. military and forces of foreign allies and partners.
The article concludes that a new land-based long-range strike capability, including hypersonic weapons, is an important part of the strategy proposed by the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM) to contain China in the western Pacific. All in all, it may seem like a trivial matter, but the delivery of these launchers is a big step for the U.S. Army towards achieving its hypersonic missile program.
(Author: Ningpu Copyright manuscript, reprinted without permission The content of the article is the author's point of view and does not represent the position of this newspaper)