Lockheed Martin has revealed new details on a nearly $1 billion contract to develop a missile that will travel more than five times the speed of sound.
The aerospace firm is working on an air-launched weapon system dubbed the Hypersonic Conventional Strike Weapon (HCSW) under a new deal with the US Air Force.
In the first phase, the team will finalize the system requirements before moving on to design, flight tests, and initial production and deployment.
The contract has been awarded to Lockheed Martin, based in Bethesda, Maryland, to design and develop a hypersonic missile that can be launched from a warplane. This 2010 file photo shows rival Boeing’s X-51A WaveRider hypersonic vehicle under a B-52 bomber
Work on the ultra-fast missile will largely take place in Huntsville, Alabama, Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, and Orlando, Florida, according to Lockheed Martin.
Additional expertise in Denver, Colorado, and Sunnyvale, California will also be involved in the project.
The US Air Force will grant Lockheed Martin up to $928 million for development of the weapon through early operational capability.
‘Our goal is rapid development and fielding of the HCSW system, and this contract is the first step in achieving that goal,’ said John Snyder, vice president of Air Force Strategic Programs at Lockheed Martin.
‘Design, development, production, integration and test experts from across Lockheed Martin will partner with the Air Force to achieve early operational capability and deliver the system to our warfighters.
‘We are incredibly proud to be leading this effort.’
It was first revealed back in April that the Pentagon pushed through development of the highly maneuverable weapons, which are designed to outpace detection and defensive capabilities.
The move follows repeated warnings from senior officials about rapid advances by China and Russia, who have unveiled their own versions in recent months.
Arsenals of the ultra-fast intercontinental weapons could also be equipped with nuclear warheads with the capability of delivering devastating strikes across the planet.
In a statement, the Pentagon said Lockheed will receive up to $928 million (£661 million) to build a new, non-nuclear missile it is calling the ‘hypersonic conventional strike weapon.’
Hypersonic weapons can beat regular anti-missile defenses This artist’s impression, courtesy of the US Air Force, shows Boeing’s hypersonic X-51A Waverider cruise missile currently under development
This computer simulation shows how a hypersonic missile or other vehicle, in this case the Russian Avangard glider, could manoeuvre at high speed to bypass missile defences en route to its target
‘This contract provides for the 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 statement read.
Mike Griffin, the Pentagon’s new defense undersecretary for research and engineering, said China had built ‘a pretty mature system’ for a hypersonic missile to strike from thousands of kilometres (miles) away.
‘We will, with today’s defensive systems, not see these things coming,’ Mr Griffin said.
Hypersonic weapons can beat regular anti-missile defences as they are designed to switch direction in flight.
They also do not follow a predictable ballistic arc like conventional missiles, making them much harder to track and intercept.
According to reports, China has developed and last year tested a new type of hypersonic missile called the DF-17. Since 2013, China has conducted seven successful test flights of its hypersonic craft (model pictured in a state-TV documentary)
Russian President Vladimir Putin in February claimed to have developed a new type of hypersonic missile that is impervious to any Western shield.
Gary Pennett, director of operations at the Missile Defense Agency (MDA), recently said enemy hypersonic weapons – which could be launched from planes, ships or submarines – would create a ‘significant’ gap in US sensor and missile interceptor capabilities.
The MDA has asked for $120 million (£85 million) to develop hypersonic missile defenses, a big increase from the $75 million (£53 million) in fiscal 2018.
According to reports, China developed and last year tested a new type of hypersonic missile called the DF-17.
The DF-17 is a ballistic missile equipped with a hypersonic glide vehicle (HGV), which is said to be capable of achieving speeds of up to 7,680 miles per hour (12,360 kph) – or 10 times the speed of sound.
Pictured is an official artist’s impression of China’s DF-17 hypersonic craft. Hypersonic vehicles travel so rapidly and unpredictably they could provide an almost-immediate threat to nations across the globe
Russia’s Zircon missile is capable of travelling twice as fast as the Royal Navy’s Sea Ceptor missile (pictured), which would be responsible for shooting it down were it to attack British troops or mainland UK
In tests conducted in November 2017, the missile’s payload flew roughly 870 miles (1,400km) in about 11 minutes with the HGV, though intelligence experts suspect it could one day achieve over 1,500 miles (2,500 km).
Russia too is believed to be developing its own hypersonic weapon called the Zircon.
The Zircon cruise missile travels between 3,800mph (6,115kph) and 4,600mph (7,400kph) – five to six times the speed of sound – and puts Russia ‘half a decade’ ahead of the US’.
This makes it faster than any anti-missile system, including those that are expected to appear in the next two decades.
According to Russian news agency Tass, it is to go into serial production this year.
It would also be more than capable of evading US defences. This image shows a ground-based interceptor missile taking off from Vandenberg Air Force base, California last year in a test against an ICBM
Though the Pentagon is warning about hypersonics, the United States has been developing the technology for years.
The Air Force says its X-51A Waverider cruise missile, tested in 2012, could travel at speeds faster than Mach 6 (4,603mph / 7,408kph).
That’s more than one mile a second, and future iterations are expected to go much faster.
Part of the reason China has been able to advance its hypersonic missile programs is that it is not subject to anti-missile treaties signed between the United States and Russia.
The 1987 Intermediate Nuclear Forces Treaty banned short- and intermediate-range ground-launched missiles.