Rapid Capabilities And Critical Technologies Office (RCCTO), el sector dentro del US Army responsable de I&D en el \u00e1rea de sistemas de armas, ha informado que contin\u00faa el desarrollo de sus Misiles Hipers\u00f3nicos (LRHW \u2013 Long range Hypersonic Weapons), de los cuales hay tres bater\u00edas en proceso de montaje y evaluaci\u00f3n, estimando tener desplegada la primera de ellas a fines del 2023. Se trata de un sistema instalado en plataformas terrestres m\u00f3viles del tipo TEL (Transport Erector Launcher), capaces de lanzar misiles hipers\u00f3nicos que pueden alcanzar blancos a 2700 km y con extrema precisi\u00f3n.<\/p>\n
SMD SYMPOSIUM \u2014\u00a0The Army\u2019s new Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office (RCCTO) is closing in on the initial fielding of two new missile systems while preparing to pass the development and sustainment baton to the Program Executive Office (PEO) for Missiles and Space, according to a three-star general.<\/p>\n
Lt. Gen. Robert Rasch, who heads up the RCCTO, told an audience in Huntsville, Ala. on Wednesday that while Long-Range Hypersonic Weapon (LRHW) and Mid-Range Capabilities (MRC) weapon development is continuing, his office\u2019s role for those programs is about to sunset.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re birthing [LRHW] in RCCTO but for the long-term, for the second battery and the third battery, the sustainment, and the design improvements over time, those will happen on [the head of PEO Missile and Space\u2019s\u00a0Brig. Gen. Frank Lozano\u2019s] watch,\u201d Rasch said. \u201cA lot of our workforce is working on that [and] will be part of that team moving forward.\u201d<\/p>\n
The services have been working on their respective hypersonic variants for several years and the Army anticipates fielding the first battery of its LRHW later this year.<\/p>\n
That Army land-based truck system is designed to launch rounds that can travel \u201cwell over\u201d 3,800 miles-per-hour and hit targets within a 1,725 mile range, according to a March Congressional Research Services\u00a0report<\/a>.<\/p>\n Service leaders\u00a0plan to field\u00a0<\/a>the first battery to soldiers within the 5th Battalion, 3rd Field Artillery Regiment at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Wash. later this year. However,\u00a0the program has struggled with test delays,\u00a0including several in 2022 and the Army and Navy\u00a0scrubbing a test in March\u00a0<\/a>due to a battery failure during a pre-launch check.<\/p>\n Rasch said both services and the industry team are eager to \u201cget back out to prove this capability\u201d but did not discuss the sticking points for making that happen or when that next test might occur.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re not opening up on the champagne bottle right here on the stage but we\u2019re going to get there,\u201d he said, later adding\u00a0\u201cOnce we\u2026complete that end-to-end testing, and we have confidence in the design there, are missiles lined up in various stages of production ready to finish buttoning up and get those out to the field.\u201d<\/p>\n After Rasch is able to pop open that bubbly bottle and hand LRHW responsibility over to Lozano\u2019s team, he said there is already a \u201cwell defined plan\u201d in pace to continue upgrading the weapon through second, third and fourth iterations.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Rasch\u2019s team at the RCCTO is wrapping up work on the new MRC system, also known as Typhon, that leverages Raytheon\u2019s existing SM-6 missiles and Tomahawk cruise missiles and launches them for the ground.\u00a0The MRC provides a land-based, ground-launched system with a range between the Army\u2019s Precision Strike Missile, which can hit targets at a distance greater than 310 miles, and the LRHW\u2019s reach.<\/p>\n In late 2022, the service\u00a0accepted the first prototype delivery.\u00a0<\/a>This June\u00a0soldiers from 1st Multi-Domain Task Force, and the Navy Program Executive Office Unmanned Aviation and Strike Weapons, \u201csuccessfully demonstrated\u201d the launch of a Tomahawk missile from the Army\u2019s MRC system,\u00a0PEO Missiles and Space wrote<\/a>\u00a0at the time.<\/p>\n \u201cSoldiers assigned to 1st Multi-Domain Task Force conducted this live-fire event in which successful communications from the battery operations center to the launcher resulted in the launch of a Tomahawk missile,\u201d the Army office added. \u201cThis test follows the successful launch of an SM-6 missile from the Mid-Range Capability system earlier this year, confirming the full operational capability of the system.\u201d<\/p>\n Rasch said his team anticipates having the first battery fielded by the end of this year and it\u2019s now down to \u201ccoordinating the delivery of those already built missiles\u201d and having the proper certification processes in place. Once hose MDTF soldiers are fully trained and the first battalion is deemed operational, Rasch will similarity turn the program over to the PEO Missiles and Space shop to manage subsequent fielding activities, weapon upgrades and sustainment activities.<\/p>\n