The Hypersonic Weapon can travel 5 times the speed of sound and can hit any target on earth within 30 minutes. I have not been able to find the price tag for this weapon, yet, that the Taxpayers will be billed for.
Also see the Article below from the Daily Mail on this subject
Original on November 17, 2011 | U.S. Department of Defense News Release
Today the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command/Army Forces Strategic Command conducted the first test flight of the Advanced Hypersonic Weapon (AHW) concept. At 6:30 a.m. EST (1:30 a.m. Hawaii-Aleutian Time), a first-of-its-kind glide vehicle, designed to fly within the earth’s atmosphere at hypersonic speed and long range, was launched from the Pacific Missile Range Facility, Kauai, Hawaii to the Reagan Test Site, U.S. Army Kwajalein Atoll.
The objective of the test is to collect data on hypersonic boost-glide technologies and test range performance for long-range atmospheric flight. Mission emphasis is aerodynamics; navigation, guidance, and control; and thermal protection technologies.
A three-stage booster system launched the AHW glide vehicle and successfully deployed it on the desired flight trajectory. The vehicle flew a non-ballistic glide trajectory at hypersonic speed to the planned impact location at the Reagan Test Site. Space, air, sea, and ground platforms collected vehicle performance data during all phases of flight. The data collected will be used by the Department of Defense to model and develop future hypersonic boost-glide capabilities.
The AHW program is managed and executed by the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command/Army Forces Strategic Command program office in Huntsville, Ala. The booster system and glide vehicle were developed by Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, N.M. and the thermal protection system by the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Research Development and Engineering Center, Huntsville, Ala.
The Department of Defense is using AHW to develop and demonstrate technologies for Conventional Prompt Global Strike (CPGS). As part of the CPGS effort, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency conducted boost-glide flight tests in April 2010 and August 2011, results from which were used in planning the AHW flight test.
For more information contact Lt. Col. Melinda F. Morgan, melinda.morgan@osd.mil or call 703-697-1252.
U.S. Army tests hypersonic weapon that travels five times the speed of sound… and can hit ANY target on earth in 30mins
- U.S. may no longer rely on stationing missiles abroad
- Prompt Global Strike project to hit anywhere in 60mins
- Follows 15-ton bunker busting bomb by USAF
By Lee Moran | Mail Online
November 19, 2011
A hypersonic flying missile that can strike a target anywhere in the world in just 30 minutes has been unveiled by the U.S. military.
The Advanced Hypersonic Weapon (AHW), which travels five times the speed of sound, was successfully tested yesterday.
It was launched by rocket from Hawaii at 11.30am, glided south westwards through the upper atmosphere over the Pacific at ‘hypersonic speed’ before hitting its target on the Kwajalein atoll in the Marshall Islands – some 2,500 miles away.
It comes hot on the heels of the U.S. Air Force announcement that it has taken delivery of eight, 15-ton bunker buster bombs, called the Massive Ordnance Penetrator, that can blow apart 200ft of concrete.
And if it is rolled out by the U.S. military, it will mean America will no longer have to rely on stationing missiles in foreign countries.
The Pentagon did not reveal how fast the AHW, which unlike traditional ballistic missiles can be manoeuvred, reached.
Zeroed in: The weapon, which could look similar to this Falcon HTV-2, left, was fired from Hawaii, glided south westwards through the upper atmosphere over the Pacific at ‘hypersonic speed’ before hitting its target on the Kwajalein atoll in the Marshall Islands – some 2,500 miles away
Spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Melinda Morgan said the test was aimed at gathering data on ‘aerodynamics, navigation, guidance and control, and thermal protection technologies’.
The U.S. Army’s AHW project is part of the ‘Prompt Global Strike’ programme.
It seeks to give the U.S. military the means to deliver conventional weapons anywhere in the world within an hour.
Project: The Pentagon test flew another hypersonic glider, dubbed HTV-2, earlier this year, which is capable of flying 16,776 miles per hour
Scientists classify hypersonic speeds as those that exceed Mach 5 – or five times the speed of sound – 3,728 miles per hour.
On August 11, the Pentagon test flew another hypersonic glider dubbed HTV-2, which is capable of flying 16,776 miles per hour. But it was a failure.
Threat: USAF specialists stand under a mock-up of the new bunker busting Big Blu
The AHW’s range is less than that of the HTV-2, the Congressional Research Service said in a report, without providing specifics.
Despite half the circumference of the earth at the equator measuring 12,450 miles, the maximum distance travelled by the AHW will be significantly less, as it will follow a trajectory rising into the upper atmosphere before making its descent.
The Pentagon has invested $239.9 million in the Global Strike program this year, including $69 million for the flying bomb tested yesterday, CRS said.
The news comes the day after the USAF revealed it would now be using the 15-ton bunker busting Massive Ordnance Penetrator bombs.
B-2 Stealth Bombers will use the six metre long GPS guided rocket, dubbed the Big Blu and fitted with 2.5 tons of explosives, to smash open underground bunkers and tunnels suspected of containing weapons of mass destruction.
The delivery of the super bomb, and testing of the AHW, is in the same week U.S. President Barack Obama said America would act firmly against any nuclear proliferation activities by North Korea.
And it comes as an International Atomic Energy Agency report renewed calls for a pre-emptive strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities.