Super-Duper Missile
| Super-Duper Missile | |
|---|---|
| Place of origin | United States |
Super-Duper Missile (sometimes rendered as Super Duper Missile) is a colloquial name for a hypersonic missile of unknown designation and capabilities purportedly being developed by the United States. It has been theorized to be the AGM-183A ARRW (Arrow), an air-launched hypersonic boost-glide weapon.
Background and development
Early U.S. hypersonic weapons policy
In November 2011, the first advanced hypersonic weapon glide vehicle (AHW) successfully tested by the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command was unveiled.[citation needed] The initial test of the long-range, surface-to-surface missile was followed by a second test flight in 2014.[1] Concurrent with the AHW program, the Hypersonic Technology Vehicle 2 (HTV-2) began development by the DARPA Falcon Project; the HTV-2 is reported capable of operating at 13,000 mph (Mach 17.53, 21,000 km/h).[2]
In February 2020, the Trump Administration proposed a 23 percent increase in funding for hypersonic weapons and, the following month, Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering Michael D. Griffin stated that the United States was "close at hand" to having a hypersonic boost-glide weapon ready to field.[3][4]
Public announcement
The Super-Duper Missile was announced by President of the United States Donald Trump during a press availability in the Oval Office on 15 May 2020.[5][6] Writing in The Hill in response to the announcement, Ryan P. Burke – an associate professor of military and strategic studies at the U.S. Air Force Academy – opined that "the super duper missile is a super duper necessity to deal with the super duper Russian threat in the Arctic".[7] In a statement to TASS, Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov later clarified that the topic of American hypersonic weapons developments would be a subject of a forthcoming conference call with his American counterparts, noting that, while he had no specific knowledge of the Super-Duper Missile, "all those ‘supers’ and ‘dupers’ and everything else that concerns nuclear arms control" would be discussed.[8]
Theorized identity as AGM-183A
Viktor Murakhovsky, editor-in-chief of the Russian periodical Arsenal of the Fatherland, has theorized that the Super-Duper Missile is, in fact, the AGM-183A air-launched rapid response weapon which reportedly has a maximum speed of Mach 20.[9] Nick Schifrin has advanced a similar contention, as has the China Times.[10][11]
In February 2020, the U.S. Air Force announced it had decided to move forward with acquisition of the AGM-183A, developed by Lockheed Martin.[12] The weapon uses a boost-glide system, in which it is propelled to hypersonic speed by a rocket on which it’s mounted before gliding towards a target.[12] According to Popular Mechanics, the U.S. Air Force was, as of April 2020, considering using the remaining fleet of B-1B bombers as AGM-183A firing platforms, with each aircraft carrying up to 31 of the weapons mounted internally and on external pylons.[13]
Design
According to Trump, the Super-Duper Missile is 17 times faster than existing missiles in the United States arsenal and had, as of May 2020, just received "go ahead".[14][15] Kingston Reif of the Arms Control Association has indicated his skepticism as to the veracity of such a claim.[16]
See also
References
- ↑ Gertz, Bill (25 August 2014). "Army Hypersonic Missile Fails in Second Test". The Washington Free Beacon. Retrieved 25 August 2014.
- ↑ "Experimental aircraft to launch Wednesday from Vandenberg". sanluisobispo.com. Archived from the original on 2012-03-22. Retrieved 2011-08-10. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Harper, Jon (March 4, 2020). "JUST IN: Pentagon to Spend Billions Mass-Producing Hypersonic Weapons". National Defense Magazine. Retrieved May 17, 2020.
- ↑ Sanger, David E. (February 10, 2020). "Trump Budget Calls for New Nuclear Warheads and 2 Types of Missiles". New York Times. Retrieved May 17, 2020.
- ↑ Pickrell, Ryan (May 15, 2020). "Trump says the US is building a 'super-duper missile' that is much faster than anything it has now". Business Insider. Retrieved May 16, 2020.
- ↑ Johnson, Marty (May 16, 2020). "Trump touts new 'super-duper' missile that can allegedly travel 17 times faster than current missiles". The Hill. Retrieved May 16, 2020.
- ↑ Burke, Ryan (May 19, 2020). "Trump's 'super duper missile' is super duper necessary". The Hill. Retrieved May 19, 2020.
- ↑ "US administration is shaping great power standoff concept, says Lavrov". ITAR-TASS. May 19, 2020. Retrieved May 19, 2020.
- ↑ "Trump's new 'super-duper' missile is not a 'big deal' in this area – expert". Bulgarian Military. Nikolov Media Ltd. May 16, 2020. ISSN 2682-9819. Retrieved May 16, 2020.
- ↑ Schifrin, Nick. "For those interested, the aforementioned super duper missile AGM-183 Air-launched Rapid Response Weapon hypersonic". @nickschifrin. Twitter. Retrieved May 16, 2020.
- ↑ "川普：美國將有「超級飛彈」速度超乎想像". China Times (in Chinese). May 18, 2020. Retrieved May 18, 2020.CS1 maint: Unrecognized language (link)
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 Tirpak, John (March 2, 2020). "Roper: The ARRW Hypersonic Missile Better Option for USAF". Air Force Magazine. Retrieved May 17, 2020.
- ↑ Mizokami, Kyle (April 9, 2020). "The B-1 Bomber Might Start Slinging Hypersonic Missiles". Popular Mechanics. Retrieved May 20, 2020.
- ↑ Browne, Ryan (May 16, 2020). "Trump touts new 'super duper' missile but Pentagon won't confirm details". CNN. Retrieved May 16, 2020.
- ↑ "Trump says US developing a 'super duper missile'". Times of Israel. Associated Press. May 16, 2020. Retrieved May 16, 2020.
- ↑ Choi, David (May 19, 2020). "Trump's boasts about 'super-duper' missiles reflect misunderstanding of what those weapons actually do". Business Insider. Retrieved May 19, 2020.
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