Air Force leaders seek quick introduction of hypersonic weapons to boost bomber aircraft long-range strike
WASHINGTON – The head of Air Force Global Strike Command, Gen. Timothy Ray, wants to integrate the first hypersonic missiles onto the B-52 and B-1 bomber aircraft fleets “in the next couple of years.” Breaking Defense reports. Continue reading original article
The Military & Aerospace Electronics take:
1 Oct. 2020 -- Ray says the command needs to deploy the AGM-183A Air-launched Rapid Response Weapon (ARRW) “soonest” — in part to beef up the capacity to undertake “dynamic force employment’ over far-flung theaters such as the Indo-Pacific.
Hypersonic capability would demonstrate the importance of the Bomber Task Force to Dynamic Force Employment — one of Defense Secretary Mark Esper’s top 10 goals for 2020 in implementing the 2018 National Defense Strategy.
He suggests that hypersonic weapons would give the Air Force a leg up as the Pentagon and Joint Chiefs of Staff hash out future service roles and missions regarding long-range strike as they settle on a new Joint Warfighting Concept.
Related: Air Force ramping-up production of subsonic Long-Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRASM)
John Keller, chief editor
Military & Aerospace Electronics