Posted on 12/12/2019 4:58:13 PM PST by Mariner
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon on Thursday flight-tested a missile that had been banned under a treaty that the United States and Russia abandoned last summer. Some U.S. arms control advocates said the test risks an unnecessary arms race with Moscow.
The prototype missile was configured to be armed with a non-nuclear warhead. The Pentagon declined to disclose specifics beyond saying the missile was launched from a “static launch stand” at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California and landed in the open ocean. The Defense Department said the ballistic missile flew more than 500 miles.
The test comes amid growing uncertainty about the future of arms control. The last remaining treaty limitation on U.S. and Russian nuclear weapons — the New START treaty of 2010 — is scheduled to expire in February 2021. That treaty can be extended for as long as five years without requiring a renegotiation of its main terms. The Trump administration has indicated little interest in doing so.
The Pentagon declined to reveal the maximum range of the missile tested. Last spring, when U.S. officials disclosed the testing plan, they said it would be roughly 3,000 kilometers to 4,000 kilometers (1,860 miles to 2,480 miles). That is sufficient to reach potential targets in parts of China from a base on Guam, for example. The Pentagon has made no basing decisions and has suggested that it will take at least a few years before such a missile would be ready for deployment.
(Excerpt) Read more at apnews.com ...
It is highly unlikely to be a Pershing II derivative or descendant. All of them were destroyed by May 1991 at the munitions plant in Caddo Lake, Texas. The production facilities were also destroyed per the New START treaty.
We only exited that treaty in August of this year. It is highly likely that this missile is a derivative of the Northrop Grumman BMD test missiles:
https://www.northropgrumman.com/Capabilities/BallisticMissileTargets/Pages/default.aspx
Note the second listed variant. It’s not exactly a huge leap from a target missile to a warshot - especially since the ground launch “IRBM simulator” missile uses some surprisingly powerful commercially available rocket engines that can scale up. The time frame for development and observed performance fits.
PDJT don’t drink.
Yeah...I can only imagine other things of Donald’s that fat boy could hold in both hands.
No sense in just going to ten, if you going nuclear anyway.
The last time this happened the Soviet Union collapsed. This is a good thing!
Is this a signal to adversaries, on the same day the Defense Budget passed the House?
R&D is funded (after the Republican Senate signs off next week). Perhaps influence operations to get Congress to slow roll or scuttle the programs were not as effective as our adversaries might have been hoping (paying) for, from their Democrat lackeys.
We will likely have a variety of systems coming on line for the Intermediate Range, pretty quickly. Some will just be quick juice ups for existing systems like Tomahawk Cruise Missiles, and long range artillery systems. Systems already in development will likely have their ranges increased. And we will probably accelerate hypersonic boost glide systems. But they are on a treaty breakout fast track.
China is going to be facing a very different situation in the second Trump term.
We will be able to arm lots of folks in the region, to be able to effectively deter Chinese intimidation. Let a thousand missile blooms haunt their communist dreams.
It’s a Pershing with the 3rd stage, new booster bolted to the bottom!
Some will just be quick juice ups for existing systems like Tomahawk Cruise Missiles, and long range artillery systems
Possible supplement/replacement for HIMARS
Lockheed Conducts First Test of Its New Precision Strike Missile For The Army
There is already talk of expanding the missile’s range which had previously been subject to a now-defunct arms control deal with Russia.
https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/31440/lockheed-conducts-first-test-of-its-new-precision-strike-missile-for-the-army
All the Pershings and Pershing bodies were destroyed in the 90s. The tooling was also destroyed. It’s not a Pershing.
In my view, Iran is more dangerous than China or North Korea
Russia saber rattles but is not dangerous to us
We are actually engaged with Iranian surrogates in a kinetic war
It’s a Northrop Grumman missile, appears to be based on the Castor-4B commercial booster - probably with a new engine.
Why such an overly obvious attempt to try to claim this weapon is not nuclear capable? Clearly it has the weight and space for a nuclear weapon, and it would not be hard to adapt a nuclear warhead. Clearly the Russian, Chinese, NORKs and Iranian weapons will be nuclear capable...
It seems as if we don’t want to be seen as strong. I find it puzzling.
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