Global Security Newswire

The U.S. Air Force has called for work on a "prompt global strike" capability to focus on development of a hypersonic glider to be fired from a heavy bomber, not from rocket boosters as previously planned, Wired magazine reported yesterday (see GSN, Dec. 14, 2010).

The Mach-20 Hypersonic Test Vehicle-2 was designed to deliver a conventional weapon to a target anywhere around the world within one hour. An unsuccessful flight test of the glider last year was attributed to a "wobble" in its flight-control system (see GSN, Aug. 19, 2010).

A proposal to deliver conventional warheads on long-range ballistic missiles has prompted concern that the system might be mistaken for a nuclear weapon, leading another atomic power to launch a devastating response.

Air Force firings of conventional cruise missiles occur regularly, giving a potential aircraft-launched hypersonic glider an advantage over conventional long-range ballistic missile, according to Wired. The service last year test-fired an X-51 hypersonic cruise missile from a B-52 strategic bomber in an exploration of the bomber-fired glider proposal, the magazine reported.

“Our focus is on boost-glide capabilities, including the Hypersonic Technology Vehicle concept,” Maj. Gen. David Scott said this week. “We have no plans for conventionally armed sea-based missiles such as a (Navy) Conventional Trident modification or conventionally armed ICBMs” (David Axe, Wired, March 2).