By Kris Osborn, President, Center for Military Modernization
The Navy is intensifying testing of its evolving ship-launched Conventional Prompt Strike hypersonic weapon slated to arm destroyers by 2025, a fast-moving weapons development effort intended to quickly close any potential “deficit” or “gap” in the area of hypersonics between the US and major power rivals such as Russia and China.
Senior Pentagon weapons developers have been quite vocal that indeed the US may now be “number 3” in the realm of hypersonic weapons behind both Russia and China, however it may be difficult to discern the extent or existence of any “gap” and if there is one it is likely closing quickly. Nonetheless, Russia has been quite public about its nuclear-capable hypersonic weapons and the People’s Liberation Army – Navy has already test-fired ship-launched hypersonic weapons multiple times from its warships.
Air Launched Hypersonic Weapon
Most recently, the PLA Air Force has armed its H6K bombers with a first-of-its-kind air-launched YJ-21 Hypersonic missile. Its actual capabilities, range, accuracy and ability to hit moving targets may be difficult to fully discern, yet its existence may place the PLA Air Force years ahead of the US Air Force’s canceled Air-Launched Rapid Response Weapon ARRW hypersonic program.
It is within this threat environment that the US Navy recently conducted a number of advanced hypersonic weapons prototype tests in coordination with the Missile Defense Agency and the Naval Surface Warfare Center
“This test demonstrated advanced hypersonic technologies, capabilities, and prototype systems….. Data collected from this test will be used to inform the development of the Navy’s Conventional Prompt Strike (CPS) offensive hypersonic strike capability, MDA’s hypersonic defensive capability, and to mature other hypersonic technologies,” a Navy essay stated.
The Navy’s CPS program uses a “common glide body” projectile which is also being built into the Army’s emerging land-fired Long Range Hypersonic Weapon (LRHW), yet tailored specifically for a ship-launched Navy projectile. While Army and Navy hypersonic weapons developers are working to field weapons in the near term, meaning the next year or two, they are also already thinking about modifications and enhancements to hypersonic weapons. For instance, Army hypersonic weapons developers have talked about a “tech insertion” effort to upgrade hypersonic weapons once they arrive with an ability to destroy moving targets.
There definitely appears to be both short and long-term promise for the US military services in the realm of hypersonic weapons, yet the effort is not without substantial challenges. For years, weapons developers and innovators have been challenged to sustain hypersonic flight speeds. Boosting a projectile with a scram jet to reach hypersonic speeds has shown to be achievable, yet sustaining hypersonic speeds throughout the duration of a weapon’s trajectory has been more challenging. This is in large measure due to thermal management challenges, referring to the need to engineer projectiles able to sustain stable flight amid extreme levels of heat. With this in mind, scientists at the Army Research Laboratory continue to experiment with different combinations of novel materials to uncover new substances well suited for hypersonic flight. The intent of engineers developing hypersonic weapons is to enable a “laminar” or smooth air boundary layer surrounding the projectile in flight, and avoid a “turbulent” air flow which could of course throw a projectile off course.
Kris Osborn is President of Warrior Maven – Center for Military Modernization. Osborn previously served at the Pentagon as a Highly Qualified Expert with the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army—Acquisition, Logistics & Technology. Osborn has also worked as an anchor and on-air military specialist at national TV networks. He has appeared as a guest military expert on Fox News, MSNBC, The Military Channel, and The History Channel. He also has a Masters Degree in Comparative Literature from Columbia University.
