Long-Range Hypersonic Weapon

The Long-Range Hypersonic Weapon (LRHW) is a medium-range surface-to-surface boost-glide hypersonic missile planned for use by the United States Army. The United States Navy intends to procure a ship/submarine-launched variant of the missile as part of the service's Intermediate-Range Conventional Prompt Strike (IRCPS) program. The weapon consists of a large rocket booster that carries the unpowered Common-Hypersonic Glide Body (C-HGB) in a nose cone. Once the booster reaches significant altitude and speed, it releases the C-HGB, which glides at hypersonic speeds as it descends towards its target. Dynetics will build the glide vehicle while Lockheed Martin will build the booster as well as assemble the missile and launch equipment.

The C-HGB has been successfully tested twice, in October 2017 and March 2020.Sydney J. Freedberg Jr. (20 Mar 2020) Hypersonics: Army, Navy Test Common Glide Body
"The U.S. Navy and U.S. Army jointly executed the launch of a common hypersonic glide body (C-HGB), which flew at hypersonic speed to a designated impact point"
DoD (20 March 2020) Department of Defense tests hypersonic glide body
"The C-HGB – when fully fielded – will comprise the weapon's conventional warhead, guidance system, cabling, and thermal protection shield." Also: comments from LTG L. Neill Thurgood RCCTO The missile is planned to enter service with the Army in 2023. The Navy intends to field the weapon aboard its ''Zumwalt''-class destroyers by 2025 and later on its Block V ''Virginia''-class submarines in 2028; it was intended to also be fielded on guided missile variants of the ''Ohio''-class ballistic missile submarines, but funding delays and the boats' impending retirement caused those plans to be scrapped.

Development and testing

Common-Hypersonic Glide Body

In 2018, the Navy was designated to lead the design of the Common-Hypersonic Glide Body with input from the Army's Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office.

Design

The design of the Common-Hypersonic Glide Body is based on the previously developed Alternate Re-Entry System, which was tested in the early 2010s as part of the Army's Advanced Hypersonic Weapon program.Kelley M. Sayler (Updated April 26, 2021) Hypersonic Weapons: Background and Issues for Congress
Congressional Research Service, report R45811: also se
version of (July 11, 2019)
/ref> The Alternate Re-Entry System was itself based on the Sandia Winged Energetic Reentry Vehicle Experiment (SWERVE) prototype developed by Sandia National Laboratories in the 1980s. Design work is by Sandia while Dynetics constructs prototypes and test units.

Testing

The first test of the Intermediate Range Conventional Prompt Strike Flight Experiment-1, was on 30 October 2017. A missile capable of fitting in the launch tube of an ''Ohio''-class ballistic missile submarine flew over 2,000 nautical miles from Hawaii to the Marshall Islands at hypersonic speeds. The Common-Hypersonic Glide Body was tested in March 2020.

LRHW subsystems were tested at Project Convergence 2022 (PC22).Patrick Tucke
(21 Oct 2022) The Military’s Network Warfare Experiment Scaled Up This Year
/ref>Megan Eckstei
(1 Nov 2022) US Navy touts hypersonic missile progress ahead of 2025 fielding
Army LRHW to use 'hot launch'; Navy to use pressurized air to launch from submarines.

Boosters

The first stage solid rocket motor was tested 27 May 2020

Both stages of the missile booster as well as a thrust vector control system were tested in 2021.Justin Katz (25 Aug 2021) Navy Successfully Tests Solid Rocket Motor For Hypersonic Weapon Jen Judson (26 Aug 2021) US Navy tests second-stage rocket motor for hypersonic weapon
/ref>

On 29 October 2021, the booster rocket for the Long-Range Hypersonic Weapon was successfully tested in a static test in Utah; the first stage thrust vector control system was included in the test.Mike Ston

/ref>

In March 2021, training with inert missile canisters began. On 7 October 2021, 17th Field Artillery Brigade of the I Corps received ground equipment for the first operational LRHW battery.

The US Army hopes to begin live-fire testing of the LRHW sometime in 2022.

In June 2022 in Hawaii, a launch failure of Conventional Prompt Strike occurred after ignition.Jon Herskovitz and Tony Capaccio Bloomberg New
(30 Jun 2022) Hypersonic missile test fails off Hawaii in fresh setback for program

*Jon Herskovitz and Tony Capaccio
(29 Jun 2022) US Hypersonic Missile Fails in Test in Fresh Setback for Program
/ref> The test of an All-Up-Round for CPS, which uses a two-stage booster,Brendan Col
(1 Jul 2022) Russia Reacts to U.S. Hypersonic Missile Failure
failed before ignition of the C-HGB.Oren Lieberman

of all-up-round

Planned service entry

The United States Army intends to deploy the Long-Range Hypersonic Weapon in an eight missile battery containing four M983 trucks and trailers each holding two missiles in launch canisters alongside a command vehicle.
The LRHW has been named ''Dark Eagle'' by the US Army.

See also

*OpFires another Lockheed Martin boost glide medium range system
*AGM-183 ARRW

References

{{reflist

United States defense procurement
Proposed weapons of the United States