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Although the United States is always noisy and seems to be indecisive, it will always react strongly when it is truly threatened. The so-called "national system" that we are familiar with is also played by Americans, and played on a big scale.

There are two well-known projects in this regard: the Manhattan Project, which first built the atomic bomb, and the Apollo Project, which first landed humans on the moon.

■During World War II, the United States built a uranium enrichment facility in Oak Ridge, Tennessee under the Manhattan Project.

The Manhattan Project, which began in 1939, was led by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, with a total investment of about $2 billion, equivalent to about $30 billion today, an astronomical figure at the time. In addition to the huge capital investment, the U.S. government also mobilized a large number of top scientists, engineers and resources from all walks of life to participate in the development of the atomic bomb. Finally, at 5:29:45 a.m. on July 16, 1945, the first atomic bomb in human history was tested in the Alamogordo Desert in New Mexico, USA (now a remote area in the White Sands Missile Range). This initiative not only accelerated the end of World War II, but also ushered in the nuclear age for mankind, and has had a profound impact on international politics, military affairs, and diplomacy since the war.

■On July 16, 1945, the first atomic bomb test in human history was conducted in the Alamogordo Desert in New Mexico, USA.

Inspired by the Soviet Union's launch of the world's first artificial satellite in 1957, the United States launched the Apollo program in 1961. U.S. President John F. Kennedy delivered a speech to Congress, announcing that the United States would send humans to the moon and return them safely to Earth before the end of the 1960s.

■On May 25, 1961, US President John F. Kennedy delivered a speech to Congress about the moon landing plan.

The Apollo program cost about $25 billion, equivalent to hundreds of billions of dollars today, and the human and material resources involved far exceeded those of the Manhattan Project. After all, the Manhattan Project was carried out in a top-secret state, while the Apollo Project, which was made public, can be said to be a feat that was truly promoted by the "national effort." On July 20, 1969, the Apollo 11 spacecraft successfully landed on the moon, and astronaut Neil Armstrong became the first person to set foot on the lunar surface.

■Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin stands on the lunar surface with a seismic measuring device next to him and the Eagle lunar module in the distance.

The above two examples illustrate that we should not underestimate the mobilization capabilities of the American society and government. When the seemingly carefree Americans really take action, they will also burst out with amazing potential. Recently, they have demonstrated this characteristic in the development of hypersonic weapons.

Dark Eagle takes off

After many failures, on July 25, 2024, the U.S. Army and Navy conducted the first complete end-to-end test of the hypersonic weapons jointly developed by the two parties at the Cape Canaveral Space Station in Florida.

■Schematic diagram of the path for the U.S. Army and Navy to conduct flight tests of hypersonic weapons on July 25, 2024.

Perhaps the previous test process was too bumpy, or it took some time to collect, analyze and confirm the test data. The US military initially kept silent about the test. It was not until August 9, 2024 that Robert Rush, director of the Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office of the US Department of Defense, told the outside world at the Space and Missile Defense Symposium that the US Army believed that the first complete end-to-end flight test of the hypersonic weapon code-named "Dark Eagle" was successful. This means that this type of weapon is close to actual deployment in the US Army.

At the same time, this also indicates that the "Dark Hawk" is likely to become the US military's first hypersonic weapon system to enter actual combat deployment.

In fact, the United States started developing hypersonic weapons not too late. As early as the beginning of the 21st century, the U.S. military proposed the so-called "Conventional Prompt Global Strike" (CPGS). However, due to the immature technology at the time and the fact that hypersonic weapons could not find a suitable place in the U.S. military's strategic planning, its development was slow.

■The DF-17 hypersonic missile was unveiled at the 70th anniversary of the National Day parade in 2019.Ballistic MissilesThis is a great stimulus for the United States to accelerate the development of advanced weapons.

It was not until recent years, stimulated by the development of hypersonic weapons by China and Russia, that the US military began to catch up rapidly along the two technical routes of hypersonic glide missiles and hypersonic cruise missiles.

Among the US military's hypersonic weapons, the most robust development is the hypersonic glide missile developed by the Navy and shared by the Navy and the Army. The US Navy calls it the "Intermediate-Range Conventional Prompt Strike" (IRCPS) project, while the US Army's corresponding project is code-named "Long-Range Hypersonic Weapon" (LRHW), nicknamed "Dark Hawk."

■On March 19, 2020, an IRCPS hypersonic missile was launched from the U.S. Navy's Pacific Missile Launch Facility on Kauai, Hawaii.

IRCPS/LRHW is a conventional hypersonic weapon system developed from a prototype of the "backup reentry system" designed by Sandia National Laboratories on behalf of the U.S. Army, which was successfully tested in 2011 and 2017. In June 2018, the U.S. Department of Defense announced that the Navy would take the lead in development, and the Army would be responsible for coordinating the specific manufacturing of the glider warhead for use by all branches of the military. However, in February 2020, due to budget pressure, the U.S. Air Force gave up participating in the project, which became a joint project between the U.S. Navy and the Army.

■The overall development division of the IRCPS/LRHW (Dark Hawk) program between the U.S. Navy and Army, and the specific application plans of the U.S. Army and Navy.

Dynetics, a subsidiary of the US military industrial group Leidos, has won the contract to manufacture the prototype of the US Army's "Dark Hawk" hypersonic weapon glider warhead, while the famous Lockheed Martin, as a weapon system integrator, will be responsible for manufacturing the launcher and launch vehicle and integrating the US Army's original advanced field artillery tactical data system as the command and control system of the "Dark Hawk". General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems is responsible for providing related electrical systems, and Raytheon is responsible for providing flight control and power regulation components and assisting in assembling and testing the prototype.

■The prototype of the Dark Hawk system launch trailer designed and manufactured by Lockheed Martin.

Since the United States did not previously have the industrial foundation and related capabilities to manufacture hypersonic weapons, the above-mentioned companies needed to form a new hypersonic weapons industry chain for the United States to make up for this shortcoming through the research and development and production of IRCPS/LRHW with the assistance of Sandia National Laboratories.

As the general contractor, Lockheed Martin conducted several successful tests of the first-stage and second-stage solid rocket motors of the IRCPS/LRHW system, including the thrust vector control system, in 2021.

The U.S. Army plans to conduct flight tests on the Dark Hawk in fiscal years 2022 and 2023, and develop an experimental prototype in fiscal year 2023. If all goes well, it will be turned into a formal project in fiscal year 2024. In May 2021, a U.S. Army spokesman revealed that the range of the LRHW will exceed 2,775 kilometers, making it the longest-range weapon in the Army's hands, and it is estimated that the range of the Navy model will be similar.

■On October 7, 2021, soldiers from Company B, 5th Battalion, 3rd Field Artillery Regiment, 17th Field Artillery Brigade of the U.S. Army, received the first Dark Hawk hypersonic weapon prototype launcher at the Lewis-McChord Joint Base in Washington State.

However, the U.S. Army is eager to obtain hypersonic weapons. Although the missile itself is still in the process of development, they still decided to deploy the full set of prototype equipment of the "Dark Hawk" missile company without missiles, including 1 command vehicle, 1 support vehicle, 4 launch vehicles and corresponding transport vehicles and trailers to the 5th Battalion of the 3rd Field Artillery Regiment of the 17th Field Artillery Brigade on September 28, 2021, two days before the planned deployment deadline, and carry out preliminary training. Each launch vehicle of the "Dark Hawk" system contains two launchers, each loaded with 1 "Dark Hawk" missile. A missile company has 4 launch vehicles, equipped with a total of 8 "Dark Hawk" missiles.

The U.S. Army has classified the Dark Hawk hypersonic weapon into the 1st Multi-Domain Task Force established in 2017. This unit is a new type of unit formed by the U.S. Army for the "long-range precision firepower" combat concept, including multi-domain effectiveness battalions, long-range firepower battalions, indirect fire protection battalions, and support battalions responsible for intelligence, networks, information, and electronic warfare.

■The trailer-mounted launcher of the U.S. Army's Dark Hawk hypersonic weapon can carry two missiles.

The Long-Range Fires Battalion, where the Dark Hawk hypersonic weapon is located, is the main strike force of the 1st Multi-Domain Task Force and includes a "Himas”Rocket LauncherA "Dark Hawk" long-range hypersonic weapon battery and two "Typhon" land-based medium-range missile batteries.Fire coverageThe range of the missile has been increased from 90 kilometers to 3000 kilometers, greatly extending the strike capability of the US Army.

From June 25 to 27, 2024, the 1st Multi-Domain Task Force participated in the "Resolute Hunter 24-2" exercise. During the exercise, the 5th Battalion of the 3rd Field Artillery Regiment, Company B, was responsible for the actual deployment and use of the "Dark Hawk" long-range hypersonic weapon system, demonstrating the integration and combat capabilities of the system with higher-level joint forces. This is the first time that the U.S. Army has included hypersonic weapons in the joint training exercise of the troops.

■The "Dark Hawk" long-range hypersonic weapon system made its debut in the "Resolute Hunter 24-2" exercise. This was the first time that the U.S. Army practiced the use of hypersonic weapons in a joint exercise.

The U.S. Army originally planned to deploy the first complete Dark Hawk system before the end of fiscal year 2024 (March 2025), but it has now been postponed to fiscal year 2025. In the fiscal year 2025 budget application submitted by the U.S. Army, $1.282 billion was allocated for the Dark Hawk system, of which $744 million was used to purchase missile systems, including 8 missiles. According to this rough calculation, the unit price of the missile is an astonishing $93 million, which is more than the current price of an F-35A.Stealth FighterAnother $538 million is spent on research, development, testing and evaluation.

In addition, in July 2024, theNATODuring the summit, the United States and Germany issued a joint statement saying that the United States will send a multi-domain task force to Germany starting in 2026. The long-range strike firepower will include the "Dark Hawk" hypersonic weapon system, and the strike range will cover most of Russia's European territory.

■The Dark Hawk long-range hypersonic weapon system deployed in Germany has a strike range covering most of Russia's European territory.

All this shows that no matter how many difficulties the U.S. Army encounters during the test, it is determined to win the Dark Hawk long-range hypersonic weapon system. The success of this full end-to-end flight test can be regarded as a reassurance to the U.S. Army.

To be fair, the U.S. military has been developing its own hypersonic weapons from scratch quite quickly. The IRCPS/LRHW project was officially launched in March 2019, and just over two years later, a full set of prototype equipment except for missiles was delivered in October 2021. If the entire system can be officially deployed as scheduled in fiscal year 2025, the project cycle will be less than 7 years. This shows the solid accumulation and extraordinary strength of the U.S. scientific research and military industry system, including Lockheed Martin.

Sharp mouth, long legs, sharp claws

The Dark Hawk long-range hypersonic weapon system is a type of medium-range ballistic missile that uses a double-cone gliding warhead design instead of the more advanced waverider design to reduce development difficulty and speed up project progress.

■The flight paths of boost-glide hypersonic vehicles (dark red paths), air-breathing hypersonic cruise missiles (green paths), and traditional ballistic missiles (blue paths) are very different.

The warhead of the Dark Hawk missile is called the "Universal Hypersonic Glide Body", which is common to the Army and Navy. It can achieve maneuverability in the atmosphere through small wings installed at the tail of the conical warhead. The Army's Dark Hawk system uses a two-stage solid booster rocket design and relies on missile launchers for road maneuverability. The initial planned range is more than 2,775 kilometers.

In March 2020, the U.S. Army conducted its first flight test of the warhead, which successfully hit the intended target at a test range of more than 2,775 kilometers and an accuracy of 0.15 meters. In May 2024, the U.S. Army and Navy successfully completed a full-range flight test of the missile for the first time. The missile was launched from a fixed launcher, glided along a predetermined trajectory, and finally hit the target at a range of more than 3,200 kilometers.

■During a May 2024 test, a Dark Hawk missile was launched from a fixed land-based launcher.

As a hypersonic weapon, the Dark Hawk missile has a cruising speed of more than Mach 5 and a maximum attack speed of Mach 17 in the final stage. With its extremely high precision, it will become a very deterrent long-range rapid strike means in the hands of the US Army. The US military also plans to further increase the range of the Dark Hawk to more than 4,500 kilometers.

American "superior" thinking

For a long time, there have been many misunderstandings about the phenomenon that the US military lags behind China and Russia in the field of hypersonic weapons. People believe that the US military is blindly confident and ignores the combat potential in this area. Secondly, due to the limitations of the Intermediate-Range Missile Treaty, it has relaxed research and development in this area. But in fact, Americans' consideration of this issue is far more complex and in-depth than the public imagines.

■The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the U.S. Office of Naval Research, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) began research on hypersonic weapons and aircraft as early as 2002.

Since the U.S. military is in a very different situation and faces different national strategies and tasks from China and Russia, hypersonic weapons have always faced the problem of lack of clear mission requirements. The purpose of the U.S. military's opponents in pursuing hypersonic weapons is very clear, that is, to break through the U.S. missile defense system, but in turn, the missile defense system faced by the U.S. military may not be that strong, and the U.S. military already has a variety of means to deal with it.

Therefore, many people in the United States believe that hypersonic weapons are not that important to the U.S. military, and are not necessary for the U.S. military's already strong deterrence capabilities.

Due to the lack of clear mission requirements, hypersonic weapons have also caused some confusion and contradictory statements within the US military. For example, the current US Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall once said: "HypersonicWeapons aren’t going to get cheaper any time soon… We’re more likely to have relatively small stocks than large ones.”

■The current US Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall is not enthusiastic about the development of hypersonic weapons.

But some other senior defense officials have the opposite view. Mark Lewis, director of defense research and engineering at the U.S. Department of Defense, pointed out that the Department of Defense hopes to "provide hypersonic weapons on a large scale." Michael White, the chief director of hypersonic technology research at the U.S. Department of Defense, said that the Department of Defense seeks "a large number of hypersonic technologies because it must be able to provide capabilities in meaningful quantities."

Frank Kendall is one of the representatives of the United States' skepticism about hypersonic weapons. He believes that the United States is very different from its opponents both financially and strategically, and it is unwise to fight hypersonic weapons with hypersonic weapons. The U.S. Air Force should be careful not to simply copy the expensive hypersonic weapons capabilities of its opponents, which may only help the Air Force's advantage slightly.

Ultimately, this is a question of cost-effectiveness, because as mentioned earlier, hypersonic weapons are indeed quite expensive. If the US adversaries intend to use the asymmetric advantages of hypersonic weapons to play a role in nuclear deterrence, and the cost is worth it, then what role can the US conventional hypersonic weapons play and whether they are irreplaceable becomes a big question.

■Currently, a Dark Hawk hypersonic missile may be more expensive than an F-35A fighter jet, so which one is more useful?

The U.S. Department of Defense has also expressed the hope that major defense contractors will reduce the final cost of hypersonic weapons because they are indeed too expensive. Currently, each weapon costs tens of millions of dollars. At the same time, there are signs that due to the high cost of hypersonic weapons, the U.S. Department of Defense has begun to reconsider its appropriate position in the U.S. military force structure.

However, without a certain purchase quantity to support it, the average unit price of weapons will be difficult to lower. To put it bluntly, because it is too expensive, you cannot buy too many, but if you buy less, the unit price will be higher.

In addition, from the actual combat situation of Russia using hypersonic weapons such as "Dagger" and "Zircon" on the battlefield in Ukraine, it seems that there is no clear necessity and rationality. In those actual combat cases, hypersonic weapons are not irreplaceable. (The "Dagger" missile is not a hypersonic weapon in the strict sense, please refer to the historical articles of this account:"American anti-missile weapons versus Russian hypersonic missiles, what is the significance of the Russian military's saturation air strikes on Kiev?"

■The Russian military’s “Dagger” missile is known as a “hypersonic weapon,” but it has not been very effective on the Russian-Ukrainian battlefield.

Without clear mission requirements, it is impossible to determine a complete strategy for acquiring hypersonic weapons, and therefore it is impossible to discuss the most cost-effective way to accomplish these tasks. This is the long-standing embarrassing situation that hypersonic weapons have faced in the US military.

However, as the U.S. national strategic focus increasingly shifts to the vast Indo-Pacific region and as opponents' air defense and anti-missile capabilities develop rapidly, hypersonic weapons have gradually established their development priorities in the United States. A series of hypersonic weapons research and development by the Army, Navy and Air Force, represented by the "Dark Hawk", have made breakthroughs in recent times and are believed to soon enter the stage of equipment and deployment.

Conclusion

On April 11, 2024, taking advantage of the US-Philippines "Shield 24" joint military exercise, the U.S. Army dispatched the 1st Multi-Domain Task Force to deploy the "Typhon" land-based medium-range missile system in the northern part of Luzon Island in the Philippines. This is the first time that this medium-range weapon system has appeared within the first island chain.

■On April 7, 2024, a trailer launcher of the U.S. Army's 1st Multi-Domain Task Force "Typhon" weapon system loaded on a C-17A "Globemaster III" transport aircraft arrived in the Philippines.

The Typhon system can launch land-based versions of the Tomahawk cruise missile andStandard-6"Multi-purpose missiles, including the Tomahawk cruise missile with a maximum range of more than 1,600 kilometers.

It is worth noting that the Typhon system belongs to the long-range firepower battalion of the US Army's 1st Multi-Domain Task Force, which also has the Dark Hawk long-range hypersonic weapon system.

■ Schematic diagram of the structure of the US Army's "Typhon" weapon system, which can launch land-based "Tomahawk" cruise missiles and "Standard-6" multi-purpose missiles.

Therefore, the appearance of the "Typhon" system in the first island chain also indicates that the appearance of the "Dark Hawk" in this region in the future is probably inevitable. If it is deployed in Japan and the Philippines, most of my country except Xinjiang and Tibet will be under the claws of the "Dark Hawk", and we must prepare early.

The author has something to say: Hypersonic weapons are the commanding heights of the next-generation weapon systems that China, Russia and the United States are competing for. For this article, I consulted a lot of foreign materials and sacrificed several nights and rest days. I hope to bring useful content to military fans who are concerned about the development of cutting-edge weapons around the world. I sincerely ask for your support. Thank you!

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