Jared Moya
February 10th, 2006, 12:15 PM
The US military has launched a 14-year project to develop a new conventional weapon that can defeat a heavily-defended major target, such as a weapons of mass destruction site, without warning and within hours or potentially even minutes of receiving an initial command.
Dubbed the Prompt Global Strike (PGS) concept, the initiative will open new opportunities for ballistic or hypersonic vehicle technologies, but is already a source of concern for critics who fear that the USA’s launch of such a weapon could be misinterpreted by non-targeted nations as a nuclear strike.
For an initial capability, the US Navy has volunteered to convert the Lockheed Martin Trident II D-5 submarine-launched nuclear missile to a conventional warhead. That approach is intended to satisfy the immediate desire of US Strategic Command for a near-term PGS strike option, but the Trident’s ballistic trajectory is unlikely to meet long-term accuracy requirements.
Air Force Space Command (AFSPC) has been charged with analysing a more suitable technical approach and late last month issued a request for information seeking the input of industry. Three feasible options are expected to emerge from the request, says Maj Gen Mark Shackelford, the command’s director of requirements.
At the low-end would be a next-generation intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), while the most ambitious approach would involve the hypersonic Commmon Aero Vehicle and Small Launch Vehicle under development by the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s (DARPA) Falcon programme.
READ ARTICLE (http://www.flightinternational.com/Articles/2006/02/07/Navigation/194/204486/Global+strike+concept+raises+hopes+and+fears.html)
Dubbed the Prompt Global Strike (PGS) concept, the initiative will open new opportunities for ballistic or hypersonic vehicle technologies, but is already a source of concern for critics who fear that the USA’s launch of such a weapon could be misinterpreted by non-targeted nations as a nuclear strike.
For an initial capability, the US Navy has volunteered to convert the Lockheed Martin Trident II D-5 submarine-launched nuclear missile to a conventional warhead. That approach is intended to satisfy the immediate desire of US Strategic Command for a near-term PGS strike option, but the Trident’s ballistic trajectory is unlikely to meet long-term accuracy requirements.
Air Force Space Command (AFSPC) has been charged with analysing a more suitable technical approach and late last month issued a request for information seeking the input of industry. Three feasible options are expected to emerge from the request, says Maj Gen Mark Shackelford, the command’s director of requirements.
At the low-end would be a next-generation intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), while the most ambitious approach would involve the hypersonic Commmon Aero Vehicle and Small Launch Vehicle under development by the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s (DARPA) Falcon programme.
READ ARTICLE (http://www.flightinternational.com/Articles/2006/02/07/Navigation/194/204486/Global+strike+concept+raises+hopes+and+fears.html)