A B-52 flying from Barksdale AFB to Dugway proving grounds in Utah was photographed over Texas with what looks like might be a Lockheed AGM-183 hypersonic missile. Flight tracks showed it possibly launched from Barksdale, AFB in Louisiana,The AGM-183 ARRW ("Air-Launched Rapid Response Weapon") is a hypersonic air-to-ground ballistic missile planned for use by the United States Air Force.
Developed by Lockheed Martin, the boost-glide vehicle is propelled to a maximum speed of more than Mach 5 by a rocket motor before gliding toward its target. The program was cancelled in March 2023 after multiple failed tests.
The program, however, continued despite the cancellation and was announced to still be in development following additional, undisclosed testing. However in 2024 it was announced that in the fiscal year 2025 budget, no funding would be provided for procurement or further research and development.
The weapon used a boost-glide system, in which it was propelled to hypersonic speed by a rocket on which it was mounted before gliding toward a target.
According to Popular Mechanics, the U.S. Air Force was, as of April 2020, considering using the remaining fleet of B-1B bombers as AGM-183A firing platforms, with each aircraft carrying up to 31 hypersonic weapons (between ARRW and HAWC) mounted on the Common Strategic Rotary Launcher and on external pylons.
On March 17, 2024, the USAF conducted its final planned end-to-end test launch of the AGM-183A, successfully launching one out of a B-52 bomber taking off from Andersen Air Force Base. According to a USAF statement issued on 20 March. “The Air Force gained valuable insights into the capabilities of this technology,” the statement added without giving further details, including whether the test was deemed a successOn March 29, 2023, Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics, Andrew Hunter told the House Tactical Air and Land Forces Subcommittee, a committee responsible for providing oversight for military ammunition, acquisition, and aviation programs, that the AGM-183A program would not proceed, although the ARRW program's last two all-up round test flights would proceed in order to collect data to help with future hypersonic programs.[8] In the Fiscal Year 2025 budget, released March 11, 2024, no funding was provided for procurement or further research and development of the AGM-183, effectively ending the project, but with this new possible sighting over Texas (not yet confirmed) it may be that testing and (or) fielding of the weapon may have resumed.
Russia is developing at least three hypersonic weapons that are operational or approaching operational status. These systems, introduced by Russian President Vladimir Putin in his 2018 and 2019 speeches to the Federal Assembly, address requirements for Russian regional and strategic strike capabilities, and all are capable of carrying nuclear warheads. While these systems could pose problems for U.S. and NATO defense planning, their introduction in the near-term is not likely to fundamentally alter the existing balance of power or the prospects for strategic stability.
Flying in broad daylight and easily photographed, the sighting may have been a subtle way to let Russia know that U.S. hypersonic missile tests are proceeding. The aircraft appears to be B-52H 61-0028 as featured on The Aviationist. LINK
(C) Steve Douglass webbfeat@gmail.com
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| enhanced (C) Steve Douglass |
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| (C) Steve Douglass webbfeat@gmail.com |
