Desarrollar armas hipers\u00f3nicas (aquellas que vuelan a velocidades superiores a MACH 5) son un objetivo de alt\u00edsima prioridad del Pent\u00e1gono. El US Army y la US Navy han concluido recientemente los ensayos comunes de los respectivos programas de armas hipers\u00f3nicas, que ambas fuerzas llevan adelante. El objetivo es reducir los costos de desarrollo, as\u00ed como acelerar los tiempos para la puesta en servicio de estos sistemas de armas emergentes. La MDA (Missile Defense Agency) contribuye tambi\u00e9n apoyando al esfuerzo de los citados organismos. Las tres principales potencias mundiales (EUA \u2013 China \u2013 Rusia) hace a\u00f1os compiten en una verdadera \u201ccarrera tecnol\u00f3gica\u201d para posicionarse como l\u00edderes en el \u00e1rea, tratando de ser los primeros en incorporar esa capacidad en sus unidades operativas.<\/p>\n
The U.S. Navy and the U.S. Army recently concluded a jointly run hypersonic weapons test which they termed a \u201cHigh Operational Tempo for Hypersonics flight campaign,\u201d and the second of such tests, according to a recent U.S. Navy\u00a0statement<\/a>.<\/p>\n The testing will be used to, \u201cinform the development of the Navy\u2019s Conventional Prompt Strike (CPS) and the Army\u2019s Long Range Hypersonic Weapon (LRHW) offensive hypersonic strike capability,\u201d the U.S. Navy statement explained. It added that the \u201cCPS and AHPO programs are on track to support the first fielding of a hypersonic capability to the Army in FY 2023. The Missile Defense Agency (MDA) took part in the campaign to gather data for its work developing systems that will defend against\u00a0hypersonic weapons<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n The Navy also explained what is behind weapon system development. \u201cPrecision sounding rocket launches fill a critical gap between ground testing and full system flight testing. These launches allow for frequent and regular flight testing opportunities to support rapid maturation of offensive and defensive hypersonic technologies.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe data collected from the latest sounding rocket campaign will drive warfighting capability improvements for both Navy and Army to ensure continued battlefield dominance.\u201d<\/p>\n Developing\u00a0hypersonic weapons<\/a>\u2014missiles that travel over Mach 5, or five times the speed of sound\u2014is an extremely high-priority project for the United States Department of Defense.<\/p>\n Some within America\u2019s national security establishment have rung alarm bells at what they see as the United States losing its technological edge against other adversaries, particularly Russia and China and their hypersonic weapon programs.<\/p>\n Though Russia has used hypersonic weapons in the conflict in Ukraine, those weapons did not significantly affect the war, Europe\u2019s most significant in eight decades. That does not mean the weapons are without merit, however\u2014merely that the particularities of the war in Ukraine\u00a0<\/a>did not play to\u00a0Russia\u2019s strengths<\/a>.<\/p>\n Though the United States hypersonic missile program is not brand new, it is in its infancy. Still, the U.S. Navy explained that this latest test was \u201ca vital step in the development of a Navy-designed common hypersonic missile, consisting of a Common Hypersonic Glide Body (CHGB) and booster, which will be fielded by both the Navy and Army with individual weapon systems and launchers tailored for launch from sea or land. The Navy and Army will continue to work in close collaboration to leverage joint testing opportunities.\u201d<\/p>\n The statement concluded emphatically, explaining that the Department of Defense is working with \u201cindustry, government national laboratories, and academia” to get a hypersonic weapon into service in the “early-to-mid-2020s.\u201d<\/p>\n The United States will soon have a viable hypersonic weapon capability.<\/p>\n