The Pentagon is surging forward successfully with the nuclear-capable air-launched cruise missile called the Long-Range Standoff weaponRead full article
]\n\n“I’ve heard that everything with regards to LRSO [Long Range Standoff weapon],\nor the next cruise missile to replace the AGM-86, is going well and is on time,”\nArmagost said, s\n[https://www.exchangemonitor.com/air-force-joint-global-strike-operations-center-commander-says-80-4-going-well-and-on-time-2/]peaking\nat a virtual conference hosted by the Advanced Nuclear Weapons Alliance\nDeterrence Center, (ANWA).\n\nGlobal Threat Changing\n\nCapt. Bill Ostendorff, a former Navy submariner who works on the Board of\nManagers of the National Technology of Engineering Solutions at Sandia\nLaboratories, told Warrior in a special NucleCast “Future Series” PodCast\n[https://warriormaven.com/nuclecast-future/nuclecast-podcast-future-series-on-nuclear-weapons-modernization]that\nthe LRSO was critically necessary for the Pentagon’s deterrence equation given\nthe seriousness of the growing nuclear threat equation. \n\n“Many Secretaries of Defense and Chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, have\nsaid the most important mission for the Department of Defense is nuclear\ndeterrence. And I subscribe to that philosophy. Our whole existence during the\nCold War with the Soviet Union and now during a time period of intense\ncompetition with not just Russia, which has modernized its stockpile, but also\nthat of China. China has rapidly increased the size of its nuclear stockpile,\nhas modernized its weapons, and we still have nuclear weapons threats from North\nKorea and Iran,” Ostendorff said. Along with his current role at Sandia,\nOstendorff is also the Co-Chair of the Committee of Risk of Nuclear War and\nNuclear Terrorism, National Academy of Sciences. He was also the former Deputy\nAdministrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration. \n\nLRSO \n\nOver the years, some members of Congress have questioned the existence of the\nnuclear triad and suggested that perhaps dual-use and lower-yield nuclear\nweapons such as an LRSO can risk lowering the threshold to nuclear war.\n[https://warriormaven.com/air/air-force-fires-nuclear-capable-long-range-standoff-weapon-from-b-52]The\nconcern is twofold, because the concern is that a conventional launch or use of\nan LRSO could prompt a potential adversary to interpret the attack as a nuclear\nattack, therefore prompting an escalatory or potentially nuclear response. \n\nHowever, Pentagon weapons developers, experts and members of Congress have\nemphasized that there is specific protocol in place and appropriate channels of\ncommunication to ensure an adversary does not mistake a conventional strike for\na nuclear one. Also, there are clear strategic and tactical reasons why the LRSO\nis critical to the deterrence equation. As a long-range weapon, an LRSO can hold\na potential adversary at risk from the air from stand-off ranges beyond the\nreach of air defenses, something of critical significance given that it ensures\ndeterrence in the event that there is no operational space above enemy\nterritory. \n\nNuclear Triad\n\nThe existence of the LRSO also pertains to the overall pressing question about\nthe necessity of all three legs of the nuclear triad\n[https://forum.wartribunal.org/]. Ground-based ICBMs, undersea\nsubmarine-launched nuclear missiles and nuclear-armed air attack are all\nindispensable and necessary elements of the deterrence equation. This need,\nwhich is based upon the complexity of the threat environment, was confirmed last\nyear by a significant Congressional study called the “Strategic Posture\nCommision” co-led by Senator John Kyle and former Principal Deputy Administrator\nof the National Nuclear Security Administration, Ostendorff explained. \n\n“The bipartisan committee,...validated the need to continue with the nuclear\ntriad, so it validated the need to continue with the ICBMs and the Air Force\nbombers and the submarine-launched ballistic missiles. So I bring that up\nbecause I think there's been times in the past when some people say, well, why\ndo we need to have this bomber leg, for instance? That's been revalidated by a\nhigh-level group just in the last year,” Ostendorff told Warrior. \n\nThis determination seems to make tactical sense, given the variables informing\nthe threat equation; there are scenarios wherein an undersea nuclear submarine\nmay not be in range or available for an attack, and ground-based ICBMs could\nhave been destroyed or disabled by a “bolt-out-of-the-blue” nuclear attack. In\nthis kind of contingency, the only possibility for deterrence would come from\nthe air-leg of the triad. The thinking here seems to be that a potential\nadversary needs to be aware of the full envelope of potential nuclear\nretaliatory options available in the event of an attack on the US in order to be\nsufficiently and fully deterred from launching or even contemplating an attack. \n\nThe Air Force has been working with industry partners to “integrate” the LRSO\nonto the platform, something which will invariably introduce new concepts of\noperation for the B-52. The idea with the weapon is of course to afford\ncommanders an opportunity to destroy enemy targets at much longer “stand-off”\nranges to avoid advanced air defenses and prevent manned aircraft from being at\nrisk. In the event that advanced enemy air defenses or other combat developments\nprevent stealth bombers and fighters from operating in a “stand-in” capability\nin closer proximity to an enemy, the LRSO can offer new air-attack options.\n\nPentagon, Air Force Say They “Need” LRSO\n\nPentagon and industry weapons developers, supported by a majority of lawmakers,\nexplain that commanders need a wide range of options with which to ensure and\nstrengthen strategic deterrence, meaning that the presence of the LRSO is much\nmore likely to “prevent” a nuclear exchange. This view has prevailed thus far,\ngiven that the Air Force’s 2024 budget requested funds for the purchase of as\nmany as 1,000 LRSO weapons.\n\nStealth Missile?\n\nA significant essay in Military Aerospace Electronics\n[https://www.militaryaerospace.com/test/article/55125341/raytheon-technologies-corp-nuclear-weapons-test-and-measurement-radar-cross-section-rcs]\nsuggests that Raytheon's LRSO be build with a key \"testing radar\" to assess the\nmissile's Radar Cross Section (RCS). Available renderings of the missile do show\na smoothly curved weapon with few protruding edges or sharp contours, a design\ntypically used to ensure weapons and platforms can operate with the advantage of\nstealth properties. This would make an incoming LRSO much more difficult to\ndetect by enemy radar. Sharp edges and vertical structures can naturally\ngenerate a much more precise electromagnetic rendering of an object as electrons\nhave more shapes to bounce off an object and generate a return signal showing\nshape, speed and configuration of the weapon.\n\n\"The LRSO RCS must operate from 2 to 18 GHz; have a near-field radar frequency\nimaging capability; produce high-resolution 2D and 3D measurements; collect\nlaser cross section measurement data; and be able to measure a system under test\nas large as 25 feet long, 20 feet wide, and 3 feet high,\" the Military Aerospace\nElectronics essay explain.\n\nThe essay further explains the important of testing the weapon safely while also\nensuring the assessments can \"test 360 degrees azimuthally.\"\n\n\"The LRSO RCS must require no ancillary equipment to align and register the\ntarget; control a rotator that will spin the system under test 360 degrees\nazimuthally; include a safety system to protect personnel and the system under\ntest from injury; and be off-the-shelf and delivered no later than 12-months\nafter contract award,\" the magazine writes.\n\nLRSO on B-52\n\nIn development for many years as a follow-on next generation weapon to the\nB-52-fired Air Launched Cruise Missile (ALCM), the LRSO brings a series of new\ntechnologies to the realm of cruise missile air attack. While many of the\nspecific technologies are, not surprisingly, unavailable for security reasons,\nthe concept for the weapon is clear.\n\nEnemy air defenses such as Russia’s S-400 and S-500 and China’s HQ-9 system\ncontinue to become much more advanced, high-tech and precise. Russian media\nclaims its SAMS can even detect and destroy stealth aircraft, an ambitious and\nunconfirmed claim which may not be likely in light of advancements in stealth\ntechnology. Nonetheless, enemy air defenses now operate with digital networks,\nand increased ability to share target detail across formations, much longer\nranges and an ability to operate on many frequencies at one time. The intent of\nair defenses is to use both low-frequency “surveillance” radar which can blanket\nan area and confirm that “something” is there, however higher frequency\n“engagement” radar is necessary to achieve a target lock and actually destroy an\naircraft. This second part, the engagement radar, requires much more precision\nand narrowly configured targeting systems which are likely quite challenged to\nactually “hit” stealth aircraft.\n\nThe improvement of Russian and Chinese air defenses however, are almost certain\nto be part of why the Air Force’s B-21 is engineered with what is described as\nan entirely new generation of stealth technology. Existing stealth aircraft such\nas the B-2, F-22 and now nuclear-capable F-35 have also been consistently\nupgraded with newer, more advanced stealth properties such as coating materials,\nimproved thermal management, embedded antennas and other signature-reducing\ntechnologies. Yet another critical improvement regarding efforts to counter\nadvanced air defenses relates to the arrival of manned-unmanned teaming, meaning\ngroups of unmanned drones are operated from the cockpit of a stealth fighter jet\nto test enemy defenses, blanket areas with ISR or even deliver weapons while\nmanned aircraft operate at safer distances performing command and control. \n\nLRSO B-52 Integration\n\nWhile specifics are not available, the Air Force has been working with Boeing to\n“integrate” the weapon onto the B-52, a task which requires technical\ninterfaces, fire control alignment and connected command and control and\nguidance systems. \n\nNuclear deterrence involves a complex set of variables and concepts, and\nproponents of the need for some lower-yield options argue that commanders need a\nwide range of options through which to pursue its deterrence posture\n\nPerhaps the existence of a range of US Lower-yield nuclear attack options could\ndeter Russia or China from thinking it might be able to launch some kind of\ntactical nuclear attack without incurring a nuclear response.\n\nKris Osborn [https://warriormaven.com/author/krisosborn] is the President of\nWarrior Maven – Center for Military Modernization. Osborn previously served at\nthe Pentagon as a highly qualified expert in the Office of the Assistant\nSecretary of the Army—Acquisition, Logistics & Technology. Osborn has also\nworked as an anchor and on-air military specialist at national TV networks. He\nhas appeared as a guest military expert on Fox News, MSNBC, The Military\nChannel, and The History Channel. He also has a Masters Degree in Comparative\nLiterature from Columbia University\n\n",
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