Source: Reference News
Reference News Network reported on October 18 The U.S. Army Times website published on October 15 an article entitled "The U.S. Army's first hypersonic missile is fully equipped by December at the latest", journalist Jane Jadson.
Major General Frank Losano, executive officer of the U.S. Army's missile and space program, recently told Defense News that the U.S. Army's first unit to receive hypersonic weapons will receive ammunition to meet the operational needs of a missile company by the end of this year.
In 2021, the 17th Field Artillery Brigade, 3rd Field Artillery Corps, 5th Camp, 1st Multi-Domain Special Forces, at the Lewis-McCode Joint Base, received all the equipment needed for the long-range supersonic weapons capabilities known as the Dark Eagle – except for real ammunition.
The first three missiles were distributed to the force earlier this year. Lozano said the fourth missile is currently undergoing acceptance inspection. Lozano said the last eight missiles are expected to be delivered "by the end of December."
There were long delays in the testing process before the ammunition was loaded. Due to challenges faced by the test range and failures during the launch and start-up of the missile, several tests of this ammunition in 2023 have been suspended.
Full readiness testing is considered critical to ensuring that the system is safe, effective and ready for deployment.
In May 2024, the Army conducted a successful end-to-end flight test of its high-speed hypersonic missile at the Pacific missile test site in Hawaii, bringing the first troops equipped with the weapon a step closer to the initial setup.
Although the Army's process of installing the weapon took nearly two years longer than originally planned, Army officials pointed out that missile research and development projects usually take about 10 years. In contrast, the long-range hypersonic weapons project is just over five years old.
The army also prepared launch devices, trucks, trailers and operational centers, which were necessary for the formation of the first missile line.
Lockheed Martin is a weapon systems integrator for the Army's hypersonic capabilities. The weapon will be fired from a motor truck.
In preparation for receiving fully prepared munitions, the U.S. Army delivered its first batch of hypersonic weapons (excluding missiles) to the multi-domain task force at Joint Base Lewis-McChord two days before its fiscal year 2021 deployment deadline. Since its delivery, the force has been using the system for training.
Once the first missile is delivered, the next phase of production will be accelerated.
Lozano said: "This is a very complex missile system. Although we have completed system testing and are confident that it will function properly, we are still struggling to figure out how to move complex prototype systems into production, where you need a highly repeatable process to eliminate quality flaws."
Lozano acknowledged that speed would of course bring additional challenges and that in essence progress is too fast – if it’s a typical 10- or 15-year missile project, then you’ll eliminate all of these risks in the project and then deliver on time.”
But he said: "The good news is that we are making progress. All we need to do is keep stepping on the accelerator, keep pushing and make more progress." (Compiled by Qing Songzhu)