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US Completes Hypersonic Missile Flight Test In Bid To Keep Up With China
Epoch Times ^ | 07/02/2024 | Aldgra Fredly

Posted on 07/02/2024 10:01:31 PM PDT by SeekAndFind

The U.S. Army and Navy have recently completed a flight test of a hypersonic missile as the United States seeks to keep pace with its geopolitical rivals—China and Russia—in developing hypersonic capabilities.

The military performed the flight test from the Pacific Missile Range Facility in Kauai, Hawaii, to gather data on the overall performance of the long-range hypersonic weapon (LRHW), the Pentagon said on June 28.

The LRHW is equipped with the Navy’s Conventional Prompt Strike (CPS) All-Up-Round missile—which consists of a two-stage solid rocket motor booster and a hypersonic glide body—and the Army’s canister.

CPS is a hypersonic missile development and test program that “provides longer range, shorter flight times, and high survivability against enemy defenses,” according to Lockheed Martin.

Lt. Gen. Robert Rasch Jr., director of the U.S. Army’s Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office, said that the missile development was intended to help the U.S. military “maintain superiority over any potential adversaries.”

The Pentagon did not elaborate on the data obtained from the flight test or provide additional details about the hypersonic missile.

The test comes about a month after the U.S. Army awarded Lockheed Martin a $756 million contract to supply the additional equipment and support for the nation’s ground-based hypersonic weapon system, the LRHW.

Under the contract, the aerospace and defense company will provide the U.S. Army with LRHW battery equipment, systems, and software engineering support, as well as logistics solutions.

Dark Eagle

A recent report by the Congressional Research Service stated that the U.S. Army’s LRHW, dubbed the Dark Eagle, can travel at more than 3,800 miles per hour and is capable of reaching “the top of the Earth’s atmosphere.”

The weapon system can maintain a position “just beyond the range of air and missile defense systems” until it is ready to strike, according to the report.

It provides the U.S. Army with a weapon system for strategic attacks to counter anti-access/area denial capabilities—weapons used to keep an enemy out of a certain area— suppress adversary long-range fire, and engage other important targets.

Lockheed Martin delivered the first LRHW battery to the U.S. military in 2021. The U.S. Army has been collaborating with the U.S. Navy to develop the weapon system, according to the report.

The United States has been testing its hypersonic missile capabilities amid growing concern that Russia and China have been more successful in developing such weapons.

Rick Fisher, a senior fellow at the International Assessment and Strategy Center, a security-focused think tank, said last year that the United States trails China in the development of hypersonic weapons.

“China has effectively taken the lead in the hypersonic weapons race due to the breadth and depth of its technology investments,” Mr. Fisher said.

“We are only seeing the beginning of their weapons developments in this field.”

The Pentagon, in its annual report to Congress last year, warned that China already “has the world’s leading hypersonic arsenal,” which includes the DF-17 medium-range ballistic missiles that can be armed with hypersonic glide vehicles (HGVs). An HGV, fitted to a ballistic missile, enables it to maneuver and glide at hypersonic speeds and alter trajectories after launch.

According to the report, the DF-17 HGV-armed medium-range ballistic missile system is “possibly intended to replace some older SRBM [short-range ballistic missile] units and is intended to strike foreign military bases and fleets in the Western Pacific, according to a PRC-based military expert.” PRC is the acronym for China’s official name, the People’s Republic of China.


TOPICS: China; Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: china; hypersonic; military; missile

1 posted on 07/02/2024 10:01:31 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
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To: SeekAndFind

About time. The U.S. is led by idiots.


2 posted on 07/02/2024 10:07:34 PM PDT by wildcard_redneck (He who sacrifices freedom for security deserves neither.)
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To: wildcard_redneck

Bravo RCCTO!


3 posted on 07/02/2024 10:16:03 PM PDT by Theophilus (covfefe)
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To: SeekAndFind

Given that Chinese R&D stands for Chinese Rip-off and Duplicate and Chinese “students” going to the big research/tech schools, where did China get the info they used to build their missiles.


4 posted on 07/02/2024 10:24:59 PM PDT by qaz123
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To: qaz123

Not sure that matters if the Chinese are applying the acquired tech and the US isn’t.


5 posted on 07/02/2024 10:49:38 PM PDT by Gene Eric (Don't be a statist! )
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To: aMorePerfectUnion

Ping


6 posted on 07/02/2024 11:15:50 PM PDT by Mark17 (Retired USAF air traffic controller. Father of Air Force pilot. Both bitten by the aviation bug)
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To: wildcard_redneck

7 posted on 07/02/2024 11:18:18 PM PDT by MinorityRepublican
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To: wildcard_redneck

“About time. The U.S. is led by idiots.”

Exactly, if we FINALLY have a hypersonic that works, then we can brag about being 20 years behind Russia and China, along with 5 years behind Iran and North Korea.

...and the thing is, Russia didn’t even bother to hide their hypersonic development over that time, all the Neocons had to do was NOT ignore it.


8 posted on 07/03/2024 2:02:25 AM PDT by BobL
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To: qaz123

“where did China get the info they used to build their missiles.”

Probably from the 10 MILLION or so engineers they graduate every year.

But hell, why worry or why even protect our secrets, for We Are America, and therefore WE ARE INVINCIBLE!!!!


9 posted on 07/03/2024 2:04:08 AM PDT by BobL
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To: qaz123

Given that Chinese R&D stands for Chinese Rip-off and Duplicate

Chinese jargon translated:
“Early planning” means ‘getting ready to plagiarize’;
“Years of dedication” means ‘waiting for open source’;
“Overtaking on a curve” means ‘the open source opportunity has arrived’;
“Far ahead” means ‘successful plagiarism’;
“Bottlenecked” means ‘a failed attempt at copying’.

Example:
After years of ‘early planning’ and ‘years of dedication’, Pioneer claims it wants to surpass Space X which clearly marks their attempt at ‘overtaking on a curve’ on their way to ‘far ahead’, however their safety measures are so haphazard that they haven’t even done the fundamental groundwork as a result the rush to overtake has led to this unexpected first flight on June 11th. Clearly Pioneer has been ‘bottlenecked’.


10 posted on 07/03/2024 3:22:07 AM PDT by PIF (They came for me and mine ... now its your turn)
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To: SeekAndFind

Thanks free traitors. We’re borrowing money to fund our research while paying for the Chicom’s research with our consumer dollars, thanks to you.


11 posted on 07/03/2024 3:49:09 AM PDT by TwelveOfTwenty (Will whoever keeps asking if this country can get any more insane please stop?)
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To: SeekAndFind

when you prioritize hairstyles, vilify anything masculine, and import foreigners instead of using your own people...

you will end up falling behind in areas of research and development related to the military.

this is known as impacting national defense.

i’ve been beating this dead horse since 2000 and the H-1b fiasco.


12 posted on 07/03/2024 4:40:45 AM PDT by sten (fighting tyranny never goes out of style)
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To: BobL
20 years behind Russia and China

The first German V-2s fell on England in 1944 at hypersonic speeds of Mach 5 (3400 mph)

Making things move fast has been around a long time. Making them manuverable and precise is a another ball game.

13 posted on 07/03/2024 5:31:21 AM PDT by Theophilus (covfefe)
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To: wildcard_redneck

We had hypersonic missiles back in the ‘70s and ‘80s but the RATs canceled the funding led by Ted Kennedy.


14 posted on 07/03/2024 5:32:09 AM PDT by fella ("As it was before Noah so shall it be again," )
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To: Theophilus

“Making things move fast has been around a long time. Making them manuverable and precise is a another ball game.”

Yep, and that’s why trying to sit on one’s lead for 30 YEARS (1985 to 2015) isn’t exactly very bright.


15 posted on 07/03/2024 5:36:36 AM PDT by BobL
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To: SeekAndFind; All

Let’s see…..After being done with his VP duties, the Biden Institute is opened at the University of Pennsylvania. Never teaches anything. No staff members teache anything but everyone is getting paid.

Staff at the prestigious Biden institute now work in high level positions in his administration. Positions with access to all sorts of super Top Secret stuff.

Lo and behold the Biden Institute is funded by the Chinese.

Whaddya know.


16 posted on 07/03/2024 5:42:27 AM PDT by qaz123
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To: SeekAndFind

Bkmk


17 posted on 07/03/2024 7:16:11 AM PDT by sauropod ("This is a time when people reveal themselves for who they are." James O'Keefe Ne supra crepidam)
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To: BobL

INF was Reagan’s fault. But the lessons in terminal guidance learned from SDI (Regan’s fault in a good way) are surely paying dividends for our Hypersonics programs. Which is harder: hitting an incoming enemy missile or floating cruiser?


18 posted on 07/03/2024 9:13:24 AM PDT by Theophilus (covfefe)
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To: SeekAndFind
If only we could keep up with China in peaceful commerce.

These days the business of America is war.

19 posted on 07/03/2024 9:28:23 AM PDT by Salman (It's not a slippery slope if it was part of the program all along. )
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