The Air Force still doesn’t know what caused a December launch of the AGM-183A Air-Launched Rapid Response Weapon to fail, but it still has time to wrap up flight tests by the end of fiscal 2022, Brig. Gen. Heath Collins said.
By Valerie InsinnaA new approach to speed, scale and efficiency for the industrial base
Radars, EW, EO/IR, space imagery, and microelectronics are brought under one roof for a streamlined approach to common people and factories.
During a Dec. 15 test, AGM-183A Air-Launched Rapid Response Weapon (ARRW) booster failed to launch.
By Valerie Insinna
The B-21 program will not undertake traditional “block upgrades” to beef up future performance, says Air Force Global Strike Command head Gen. Timothy Ray. Instead, it will incrementally add new capabilities as they become available.
By Theresa Hitchens
As the services rush to field hypersonics, OSD’s top expert warns, they must not repeat sloppy mistakes that have marred past tests – and hypersonic cruise missiles may have more tactical value than easier-to-build boost-glide weapons.
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr. “Since the Department has repeatedly demonstrated its willingness to disregard congressionally mandated reprogramming procedures, the Committee cannot agree to provide the additional budget flexibility the Air Force requested,” the 2021 spending bill says.
By Theresa Hitchens
“We want to deliver hypersonics at scale,” said R&D director Mark Lewis, from air-breathing cruise missiles to rocket-boosted gliders that fly through space.
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
“At this point we don’t want to see an either/or — we actually want to see both technologies pursued,” Lewis said of DoD’s pursuit of hypersonic boost-glide and cruise missile efforts.
By Theresa Hitchens
Future inevitability of quantum computers is a security problem today
‘Store Now, Decrypt Later’ attacks must be thwarted now with Zero Trust cybersecurity.
Lockheed Martin is designing what it calls a new Hypersonic Strike Weapon-Air Breathing (which goes by the awful acronym HSW-ab) for DARPA. John Varley, Lockheed’s VP for hypersonic weapons, wouldn’t provide details due to the program’s high level of classification.
By Theresa Hitchens
“All of the fundamental research in hypersonic aerodynamics is United States (work),” said Pentagon R&D chief Mike Griffin. “We did not choose to weaponize the results of that research. Our adversaries have chosen to weaponize it. That’s the challenge. We will respond.”
By Colin Clark
