The Air Force is working with Lockheed Martin to design a new hypersonic prototype. The service previously explored the technology with tests of the X-51A Waverider, shown here under the wing of a B-52 bomber. (U.S. Air Force graphic)
On April 18, the Pentagon said in a statement that Lockheed Martin had secured a $928 million contract to build an undefined number of hypersonic conventional strike weapons for the US military.
The Pentagon stated that the company would createthe “hypersonic conventional strike weapon”. According to the contract Lockheed Martin will be responsible for “design, development, engineering, systems integration, test, logistics planning, and aircraft integration support of all the elements of a hypersonic, conventional, air-launched, stand-off weapon”.
The non-nuclear missile will be fired from warplanes and will be difficult to track due to its ability to switch direction mid-flight to avoid predictable arcs. The development will take place in the northern Alabama city of Huntsville, which is dubbed the “Rocket City” as it was the birthplace of the US missile program.
On April 19, Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering Mike Griffin said that China had built “a pretty mature system” for a hypersonic missile, stressing:
“We will, with today’s defensive systems, not see these things coming,” Griffin said.
Air Force service spokeswoman Ann Stefanek stressed the value of this contract:
“This effort is one of two hypersonic weapon prototyping efforts being pursued by the Air Force to accelerate hypersonics research and development,” Air Force Time neswpaper quoted Stefanek as saying.
Lockheed Martin’s contract to develop hypersonic weapons came after an official announcement by Russia that Moscow had already developed and obtained such missiles.
They know that Russia is not bluffing.
They gave it to Lockheed-Martin? I reckon this is not really much of an actual weapon design that they want to have in use, but more of a cash transfusion to Lockheed Martin’s stockholders. Surely no sane person would order from that company again after the F-35 disaster.
I understand that Lockheed Martin have employed Video Game Designers as their ideas work in Virtual Reality which is where the US exists these days :)
“””. Lockheed Martin will be responsible for “design, development, engineering, systems integration, test, logistics planning, and aircraft integration support of all the elements of a hypersonic, conventional, air-launched, stand-off weapon”. This project will be similar and have common characteristics with F-35 program…..expensive, unreliable, exaggerated capabilities…etc. They are at square one, they have to design and develop and engineer the weapon, while Russia already has 3 hypersonic weapons available. Looks like US is at least a minimum of 10 year behind in the race for deploying hypersonic weapons.
Ultimately each missile will cost 3 billion each with a failure rate of 50%.
You’re optimistic with the 50% figure.
If turns out anything like the F35 (the Fying Dumptruck) project it will be decades in “development” and 100s of billions in “cost overruns.” And I’m guessing it won’t work.
The JSF has to be easily the worst defence procurement in history. They are selling it on the basis of two attributes – its stealthy and it has sensors. To be effective on a mission it has to carry external ordnance – not stealthy and also it has a really big hot engine and who has highly effective IR missile capability? As for the sensors they will be jammed and spoofed. http://www.pogo.org/straus/issues/weapons/2018/f-35-still-no-finish-line-in-sight.html
The new carriers are not looking that good either – US taxpayer up for billions more. http://www.pogo.org/straus/issues/defense-budget/2017/how-not-to-build-a-ship-uss-ford.html
As for the Zumwalt it looks like an ocean going apartment block and has no close in defence, as I understand, against high speed missiles.
Both the Supercarrier and the mega dildo zummwalt have limited air defense. I got the supercarrier but for the destroyers too ? Funny enough they equipped the dildo with a banana cannon and their main advantage is stealth. Real smart.
They’ve tested the things 2 times and failed to ignite the things ramjets 2 times. And this is the company responsible for F35 the ultra high end very expensive RC aircraft.
The genius of the Russian hypersonic cruise missile is that it is launched from a MIG31 at extremely high altitude, arcs into the stratosphere, noses over, and the hypersonic RJ ignites during the propelled dive (that’s my guess, I am no expert on these things). However the Russians did it — with enough confidence to put it into serial production — they are an entire generation ahead in hypersonic cruise missiles (and we can be rest assured product improvements are forthcoming). What the US is in dire want of is the 6th Fleet settled on the bottom of the Mediterranean.
LM to get $0.928 Billion to produce hypersonic weapons. If they manage to produce a few prototypes it will be years off and cost the American tax payer at least ten or twenty times that. ‘cos Yanki Zionist MIC is and always has been about profit not people. Military hardware in Yankiland is first and foremost about taking more and more money out of the taxpayers pocket and putting it into the Vaults of the Elite. Eventually, there will come a point when the system will crack, due to the tax burden and the decreasing capacity to keep the population sufficiently medicated via their Yella Press and other propaganda machines. Time for Russia to sink their fleet destroy their AF and impose sanctions on them from producing such weapons enforced with Weapons inspectors from Russia. Israel to be disarmed and all those foreigners who have taken up residence in Palestine to be repatriated to their country of origin. Trump, Obama, Bush X2 Clinton X2, Blair, Netanyahu and all other international war criminals to be executed followed by their Trial in absentia.
This is going to be severely over budget, Lockheed martin will do anything to dig out more money from the government.
Each missile will come with a $10,000 toilet seat! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3edi2Wkr5YI
The more debt they create to try and catch up the faster the whole US system collapses financially. The MIC will accelerate this. Looks like China and Russia are sitting and waiting for this.
Take that $928 million contract price as a mere first down payment – after all it’s Lockheed Martin.
This is what Trump was talking about when he said “Mission accomplished”. When those $2 million cruise missiles get fired off they have to be replaced. With the upgrades the new ones will cost 5 million each. Banksters, Greedsters and Warsters will all be wanking in overdrive while they sign over the campaign “contributions”!
This will not change the basic fact in any way:
US ABM can be evaded.
US has no defense against Russia’s 5 or 6 ABM evading delivery systems recently disclosed, and US will not be be able to mount any defense against this for the foreseeable future.
Firmly (re)establishing MAD was Russia’s objective.
The Universe has Infinite resources that technology has yet to discover. but some Just want war. Go out of Your way to not fund support or even mention these evil entities.
American knock-offs from Russian originals, built by state financed corporations. Any talk about “securing contracts”, which sounds proper business, is just a smokescreen. This is not competition in the free market place, nor is it competitive, or even competent. Lockheed Martin is a State Financed Corporation, it is funded by the tax dollars. Without being State Financed it would collapse to a minute size. Think about this deeply.
The money isn’t going where they say it is. LM will produce garbage and it will take too long, but that’s largely because they route money through the defense contractors to other projects, generally all DARPA linked. Doesn’t anyone understand that? None of our money goes where they say it’s going. NONE OF IT!!!