Air Force leaders seek quick introduction of hypersonic weapons to boost bomber aircraft long-range strike

Oct. 1, 2020
ARRW is a boost-glide weapon, and the Air Force also is considering future scramjet-powered hypersonic missiles to add punch to bomber aircraft fleet.

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: Lockheed Martin to build 48 more LRASM subsonic anti-ship missile systems to attack high-priority targets

Related: Lockheed Martin hypersonic missile may achieve speeds of 3,800 miles per hour -- or one mile per second

Related: Air Force ramping-up production of subsonic Long-Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRASM)

John Keller, chief editor
Military & Aerospace Electronics

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