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[global times special correspondent xie zhao] on the 16th, us air force secretary frank kendall openly declared at the "2024 aviation, space and cyber" conference held by the us air force and space force association that "china is not a threat in the future, but a threat today." the ultra-long-range stealth cruise missile that debuted at the conference also indirectly confirmed the hostility of the pentagon's top brass he represented towards china. the us media openly claimed that this new weapon was tailor-made for conflicts with major powers such as china.

the newly unveiled agm-158xr missile

the u.s. defense post reported on the 17th that lockheed martin exhibited the latest improved model of the agm-158 joint air-to-surface standoff missile (jassm) at the "2024 aviation, space and cyber" conference. this stealth cruise missile, called agm-158xr, has a significantly larger body, can carry more fuel and a 1,000-pound (about 453 kilograms) large armor-piercing warhead. at the same time, it also uses intelligent technology to improve its penetration capability against the opponent's advanced air defense system.

according to reports, the agm-158 series of stealth cruise missiles are a new generation of stealth air-launched weapons developed by the united states. the main feature is the use of various advanced technologies to reduce its infrared and electromagnetic characteristics to ensure that it can penetrate the most dense air defense network of the opponent. at present, there are several models of this series of missiles in service, including the early agm-158a, the extended-range agm-158b and the anti-ship agm-158c. among them, the agm-158a has a range of about 370 kilometers, and more than 2,000 have been produced in total. the us military believes that its range is not enough to cope with the needs of future conflicts between major powers, and it has been discontinued. it is speculated that the long-range missile that the united states may approve to provide to ukraine recently is this model.

in contrast, the range of the agm-158b has been increased to more than 1,000 kilometers, and it can be launched from outside the defense range of existing air defense systems, and use its range advantage to set flight routes to circumvent the interception of opponents. the agm-158c is optimized for well-protected maritime targets, and can detect radio signals from radars and automatically evade them, or track them based on the electromagnetic signals of opponents. in addition, these two advanced cruise missiles also have powerful network communication capabilities, and multiple missiles launched at the same time can autonomously cooperate in combat according to the battlefield environment and jointly strike targets.

john hill, lockheed martin's air superiority and strike weapons manager, said that compared with previous models, the xr in the agm-158xr missile that was unveiled this time stands for "extreme range". it has a larger size, which means it can carry more fuel and provide a longer range by using lighter materials, improved streamlined design and more efficient engines. the us "power" website said that the missile's range may be comparable to that of the "tomahawk" cruise missile, reaching 1,800 kilometers or even further, "which will greatly expand the flexibility and unpredictability of the weapon." lockheed martin said that in addition to the f-16, almost all of the us military's existing fighters and bombers can carry the agm-158xr, including the us air force's f-15e, f-15ex and the us navy's f/a-18e/f "super hornet" carrier-based fighter. at the same time, us strategic bombers can also mount multiple missiles of this type in weapon bays and external racks.

the b-1b bomber can carry a large number of agm-158 series missiles

more importantly, although the agm-158xr has many improvements, it was designed to utilize as much current production equipment as possible. hill emphasized that the use of existing production lines and production processes ensures that the production of the agm-158xr can be carried out efficiently. lockheed martin's goal is to reach an annual output of 1,100 missiles in the near future.

it is worth noting that the agm-158 series missiles are regarded by the us military as key equipment to deal with china. the us air force claims that each b-1b strategic bomber can carry 36 agm-158cs, and "only five b-1b bombers are needed to launch up to 180 missiles of this type at the chinese aircraft carrier formation. even if the chinese fleet successfully shoots down 95% of the missiles, the remaining nine missiles can turn the aircraft carrier into a burning wreckage." in the military simulation results of the us think tank "center for strategic and international studies" in 2023, the agm-158 series missiles with long range and stealth capabilities played a decisive role in the taiwan strait conflict. "at the beginning of the war game, the pla's long-range rocket and missile forces launched a powerful attack on taiwan, causing heavy losses to taiwan's navy and air force, and the united states paid the price of two aircraft carriers, multiple warships and submarines sunk, and 300 fighters destroyed." what turned the tide of the war was the us air force's "large number of b-1b, b-2 and b-52 bombers taking off from "outside the range of chinese missiles." they carried a large number of agm-158b missiles to repeatedly strike the pla's landing fleet and important targets. the missile "had a decisive impact on the results of the war game." the "power" website mentioned that the most attractive application scenario of the agm-158xr for the us military is the "swift dragon" plan, which uses transport aircraft to drop ammunition pallets loaded with air-launched cruise missiles, which can transform transport aircraft into cheap strategic bombers. the long range of the agm-158xr will greatly improve the battlefield safety of these transport aircraft.

however, the u.s. defense news revealed that the u.s. military currently has insufficient agm-158 series missiles. if a conflict breaks out in the taiwan strait, hundreds of agm-158 series missiles will be consumed every day, and "the inventory will be exhausted in just over a week." for this reason, the united states is accelerating the production of this series of missiles while looking for other substitutes. reuters said on the 17th that due to the impact of the russia-ukraine conflict, the u.s. strategic concept of "containment of china" in the indo-pacific region has changed. the united states is stepping up testing of "quick sinking" weapons, which are low-cost, mass-produced guided bombs that can perform anti-ship operations to narrow the gap in the number of anti-ship weapons between china and the united states.