Posted on 08/25/2014 12:43:28 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
The Army’s test of an advanced hypersonic weapon failed shortly after takeoff early Monday, the Pentagon said in a statement.
The failure is a setback for a key part of the Pentagon’s strategic weapon program of building arms that can attack any point on earth in 30 minutes.
The missile carrying the weapon was intentionally blown up shortly after launch, the Pentagon said.
“Due to an anomaly, the test was terminated near the launch pad shortly after liftoff to ensure public safety,” the Pentagon said in a brief statement. “There were no injuries to any personnel.”
“Program officials are conducting an extensive investigation to determine the cause of the flight anomaly.”
The test was carried out from the Kodiak Launch Complex on Kodiak Island off the southern Alaskan coast shortly after 4:00 am eastern time.
The Advanced Hypersonic Weapon is a joint effort of the Army Space and Missile Defense Command and Army Forces Strategic Command as part of the Pentagon’s Prompt Global Strike program.
The test missile was supposed to boost the Advanced Hypersonic Weapon to near space. It was then set to glide to the Reagan Test Site on the South Pacific Kwajalein Atoll at speeds of nearly 4,000 miles an hour.
The distance is around 3,900 miles and an earlier test of the missile in 2011 reached the site in around 30 minutes. The first missile test achieved speeds of around Mach 5 or about 3,600 mph.
The new missile is a key element of the Prompt Global Strike program, which seeks high-speed strike arms that can hit targets rapidly with conventional warheads. The system is designed to attack terrorists or storage or development areas used for weapons of mass destruction and missiles that are discovered and must be struck quickly.
(Excerpt) Read more at freebeacon.com ...
Either the thing blew up and the test was a failure or the system that’s been designed to intercept hypersonic craft had a successful test.
What’s with the “Hey China, LOOK.. Ours failed too!” approach? We shouldn’t be announcing test successes or failures. Keep’em guessing.
Looks like China copied things too exactly.
This is what is called “overkill”, a misunderstood term. It does not mean hitting the same target multiple times.
The reality is that missiles have a tendency to fail, and fail a lot. So if you have a hundred targets, you need extra missiles to hit them, taking the place of the missiles that failed. This is overkill.
Missiles can explode or just fail in the silo, they can fail to get out of the silo, they can fail just after leaving the silo. If they are ballistic missiles, they can fail with their first section, or when it separates from the second section, or their second section can fail. And if the missile has three sections, there are just two more ways for it to fail.
Next it can fail to achieve its proper trajectory, or its navigation and guidance might fail, it may fail in reentry, or if it is too far off target to correct itself. Its weapon may not arm, or incorrectly arm and not detonate, or just the high explosive part, not the nuclear part, will detonate.
And that is just ordinary ICBMs. MIRV (multiple warhead) missiles have even more ways to fail, and hypersonic missiles are right now about as likely to fail as succeed.
That is why they call it “rocket science”.
Howzat again??
The distance is 3,900 miles to the destination.
The missile took 30 minutes to reach the destination.
How fast was the missile flying?
3,900 miles/ .5 hours = 7,800 MPH
Can someone tell me where I am wrong. Or where the article is wrong. I am confused because I used to be good at math.
4000mph is a glide? I'd hate to seer something really in a hurry...
Regards,
GtG
Maybe the point to point (sea level A to B) is 3900.
You punch a missile upward at launch and cause an arced flight path resulting in a longer distance.
I’m just taking a stab at an answer here.
So I’ll make a PING.
OM- You expert help here please? (unless you have to kill us if you answer)
Thanks
ICBM tests are launched from Vandenberg AFB, California to Kwajalein Atoll, a distance of around 4500 or so (I am tired and do not recall the exact distance). The Reentry Vehicles, RVs, for the Minuteman ICBM impact at around 6000 mph so I wonder why they call this a hypersonic weapon when it reenters at a lesser speed. Maybe an Army thing.
The speed of the Minuteman is much greater at stage 3 separation and Propulsion System Rocket Engine, PSRE, start. If I remember correctly the RVs are traveling around 12,000 mph but the system is well over 250,000 feet above earth when they separate from the PSRE.. The entire flight is about 20 minutes or less from “Missile Away” to RV impact and the total powered flight is less than four minutes, the rest are the RVs in a ballistic trajectory. It seems this Army missile is traveling much slower and at a lower altitude.
Thank You again Sir for Your Service and Tech Info. Get some rest. Take care.
Info ping
I apologize if I sounded "short" to you, I was not trying to be short. About ten weeks ago I had a total knee replacement and I was doing very, very well recovering but this past week I have been bothered with pain and swelling that is keeping me awake.
No excuse, just an explanation. Again, sorry if I was abrupt.
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