The US Army has been working on and fast tracking its LRHW for several years now

By Kris Osborn, President, Warrior

The Pentagon is breaking through with key developmental efforts related to its Army and Navy hypersonic weapon programs intended to introduce a new era of long-range, high-speed attack to both land and maritime warfare. 

Both the Army and the Navy have been surging through some delays and technical challenges related to the development of their respective hypersonic weapons, yet a successful recent test seems to have opened a “fast-track” door to surge the weapons toward operational status. 

 The Army’s Long Range Hypersonic Weapon and the Navy Conventional Prompt Strike will have different applications and different concepts of operation; the Army’s LRHW, called the Dark Eagle, will be an air-transportable, mobile ground-fired hypersonic weapon, the Navy intends to fire its CPS from its Zumwalt-class destroyers and submarines. 

There is a common synergy with both weapons, however, as they rely upon the use of a Common Glide Body “All Up Round” which has been integrated into both weapons as an integral component. 

A recent test of the weapon and the AUR, as it's called, inspired optimism among senior Pentagon leaders. 

"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," Secretary of the Army Christine Wormuth, said in a Pentagon essay. 

The maturation of the Common Glide Body is a welcome development for Pentagon weapons developers who have shepherded the weapon through various tests, trials and tribulations. The CHGB was showing promise as far back as 2022

“Our all-up round (CHGB) is a 34-inch booster which will be common between the Army and the Navy. We will shoot exactly the same thing the Navy shoots out of a sub or ship,” Robert Strider, former Deputy, Army Hypersonic Project Office, told Warrior Maven Aug. 11 2022 at the Space and Missile Defense Symposium in Huntsville Ala.

With recent progress, it does appear as though both the LRHW and the CPS are poised to make rapid developmental progress toward arming the services. 

LRHW & CPS vs. Oreshnik 

The arrival of hypersonic weapons to both land vehicles and ships could not come soon enough, according to US military leaders, given the severity of the threat equation.  Not only is China known to have tested an Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile with a hypersonic glide vehicle known as the DF-27, but Pentagon reports have further specified that the weapon traveled roughly 1,300 miles in 12 minutes and may operate with a range of 5,000 miles. 

Perhaps of even greater or more pressing concern, Russia “fired” its Oreshnik hypersonic weapon against Ukraine in November of 2024 and Russian leaders cited the weapon’s capabilities as a clear threat to the US, NATO and the west.  A significant report in Newsweek stated that Ukrainian authorities reported that Russia’s missile reached speeds of Mach 11 before hitting its target in Dnipro.  The Oreshnik, according to Ukraine as cited in Newsweek, traveled at speeds of roughly 8,400 miles per hour or 2.3 miles per second. 

Russian President Vladimir Putin was quoted in the Newsweek essay as saying the Oreshnik simply cannot be stopped. 

"No countermeasures currently exist against such weapons," Putin said, following the first use of the Oreshnik on November 21. "These missiles strike targets at a speed of Mach 10—2.5 to 3 kilometers per second."

LRHW

The US Army has been working on and fast tracking its LRHW for several years now, therefore the Russian firing of the Oreshnik introduces significant points of comparison. Interestingly, despite the visible threat presented by Russia’s Oreshnik, the US Army’s LRHW may provide a viable if not superior “answer” to the threat. 

Many details related to the LRHW are not known as of yet or simply not available for security reasons, yet the weapon may operate with performance parameters far superior to Russia’s Oreshnik, according to specs cited in Newsweek.  The “Dark Eagle” is reported as potentially being capable of reaching speeds of Mach 17, equal to 17-times the speed of sound, according to the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists. 

“The Dark Eagle can travel "well over 3,800 miles per hour," the U.S. Army said, as cited in a recent Congressional Research Service report. "They can reach the top of the Earth's atmosphere and remain just beyond the range of air and missile defense systems until they are ready to strike, and by then it's too late to react." (as cited in Newsweek). 

Kris Osborn is the President of Warrior Maven – Center for Military Modernization. Osborn previously served at the Pentagon as a highly qualified expert in 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.