U.S. Army tests hypersonic weapon over the Pacific

[Nothing Human Is Alien]

HONOLULU (AP) — The Army on Thursday conducted its first flight test of a new weapon capable of traveling five times the speed of sound.

The Army launched the Advanced Hypersonic Weapon from the military's Pacific Missile Range Facility on Kauai at about 1:30 a.m.

The weapon's "glide vehicle" reached Kwajalein Atoll — some 2,300 miles away — in less than half an hour, said Lt. Col. Melinda Morgan, a Pentagon spokeswoman.

Earlier this year, the Congressional Research Service said in a report the Advanced Hypersonic Weapon is part of the military's program to develop "prompt global strike" weapons that would allow the U.S. to strike targets anywhere in the world with conventional weapons in as little as an hour.

The Air Force and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA, are developing a similar vehicle.

The Pentagon said the Advanced Hypersonic Weapon, or AHW, vehicle is designed to fly long ranges within the earth's atmosphere at speeds that are at least five times the speed of sound.

The objective of Thursday's test was to collect data on technologies that boost the hypersonic vehicle and allow it to glide. The Army was also testing how the vehicle performed in long-range flight.

The Congressional Research Service report said the AHW would be able to maneuver to avoid flying over third party nations as it approached its target. The weapon would use a precision guidance system to home in on the target, it said.

[Red Rabbit]

As amazing as this weapon sounds (Technologically speaking), it's scary to think of what it could be used for.

[Mather]

I long for the day DARPA are shut down, they do not deserve even a cents worth of funding.

[piet11111]

I find it hard to believe this is a conventional weapons platform it reads exactly like a nuclear first strike weapon.

[Jose Gracchus]

It is a nuclear first-strike weapon. This will further render the Russian deterrent obsolescent, and continue to corner China, who has already been rendered impotent thanks to the Groundbased Midcourse Defense system.

The United States intends to re-enter the era of multipolarity with unchallengeable strategic nuclear superiority. That should terrify people.

[El Louton]

O, say can you see by the dawn's early light |ye - through What so proudly we hail'd at the twilight's last gleaming? |by Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight, |bright stars and broad stripes - O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming? clouds of the And the rocket's red glare, The bomb bursting in air, |bombs Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there. O, say does that star spangled banner yet wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

[Nothing Human Is Alien]

O, say can you see by the dawn's early light |ye - through What so proudly we hail'd at the twilight's last gleaming? |by Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight, |bright stars and broad stripes - O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming? clouds of the And the rocket's red glare, The bomb bursting in air, |bombs Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there. O, say does that star spangled banner yet wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

You should have been in New York for the police attack yesterday. There was a group of people singing this.

[El Louton]

You should have been in New York for the police attack yesterday. There was a group of people singing this.

Really? What Occupiers or bankers?

[RedHal]

er not surprising, I was watching the live stream and at the head of the earlier march, there were 2 huge american flags, Fuck!

[piet11111]

It is a nuclear first-strike weapon. This will further render the Russian deterrent obsolescent, and continue to corner China, who has already been rendered impotent thanks to the Groundbased Midcourse Defense system.

The United States intends to re-enter the era of multipolarity with unchallengeable strategic nuclear superiority. That should terrify people.

That system has a reported 50% success rate and that is in optimal conditions (pre-planned testing conditions) then who knows how it holds up against a MIRV weapon (A multiple independently targetable reentry vehicle (MIRV) warhead is a collection of nuclear weapons carried on a single intercontinental ballistic missile)

And then another question would be how effective it would be against missiles like topol-m that has warheads that do not follow a ballistic trajectory.

According to Russia the missile is designed to be immune to any current or planned U.S. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States) missile defence (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missile_defence) system.[21] (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RT-2UTTKh_Topol-M#cite_note-20) It is claimed to be capable of making evasive maneuvers (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maneuverable_reentry_vehicle) to avoid a kill by terminal phase interceptors, and carries targeting countermeasures and decoys (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decoy). It is shielded against radiation, EMP (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electromagnetic_pulse), nuclear explosions at distances over 500 meters, and is designed to survive a hit from any laser (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laser) technology.[22] (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RT-2UTTKh_Topol-M#cite_note-21) One of the Topol-M's most notable features is its short engine burn time following take-off, intended to minimize satellite detection of launches and thereby complicate both early warning and interception by missile defense systems during boost phase. The missile also has a relatively flat ballistic trajectory, complicating defense acquisition and interception.[23] (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RT-2UTTKh_Topol-M#cite_note-22)
According to The Washington Times (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Washington_Times), Russia has conducted a successful test of the evasive payload delivery system.[24] (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RT-2UTTKh_Topol-M#cite_note-23) The missile was launched on November 1, 2005 from the Kapustin Yar (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kapustin_Yar) facility. The warhead changed course after separating from the launcher, making it difficult to predict a re-entry trajectory.


I guess its because of missiles like TOPOL-M that they want the nuclear first strike capability.