Tuesday, July 30, 2024

Who Said "Unclear"?

It is very clear and it consists of two parts:

1. Make weapon fly hypersonic while maneuvering;

2. Be able to control it, including by providing command updates if necessary.

None of it is achieved by the US, let alone Euros and will not be for a long time. So. 

The U.S. Army and the U.S. Navy recently “initiated” a test of a hypersonic weapon, but the U.S. military won’t say whether or not it was a success, what specific system was involved, or even if there was an actual launch. Previous testing of an Army ground-based hypersonic weapon system it is developing in cooperation with the Navy, known as Dark Eagle, has been particularly beset by problems.  The Army has been hoping to begin fielding Dark Eagle within the next two months, around a year later than originally planned, and in the wake three scrubbed test launches last year. In June, the Pentagon did announced a successful test of a common hypersonic missile designed to be used in both the Army’s Dark Eagle and the Navy’s sea-based Intermediate Range Conventional Prompt Strike (IRCPS) weapon systems. To date, there has been no known full end-to-end test of the missile involving a production-representative launch system.

There will not be IOC for some years and when it will be "announced", like all other previous announcements, it will be about system which will have dubious performance at best, in reality--unworkable system. Example of announcement is provided:

“The U.S. Army and Navy recently initiated a test of a conventional hypersonic system at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida,” a U.S. defense official told The War Zone in a statement. “This test was an essential benchmark in the development of operational hypersonic technology. Vital data on the performance of the hardware and software was collected that will inform the continued progress toward fielding hypersonic weapons.” “We have no additional details or information [about the test] to provide at this time,” the statement added.  

Russians, actually, miscalculated when stated that the US is behind about 5 to 7 years. As it turned out--it is more like 12-15, at best. Mind you--Russia had Kinzhals on combat patrols since 2017, seven years at least. The rest of systems are fully operational ranging from strategic Avangard to a terrifying 3M22 Zircon. Same goes for anti-hypersonic systems such as S-400, S-500, S-550 and S-300V4. Feel the difference. People may say that I gloat--I don't, I merely follow technological and operational facts. They look bad for NATO and the gap is, actually, growing. At this stage I am getting really tired sorting out the verbiage and semantics' games used to cover up utter failure of not just technological race, but primarily doctrinal and strategic one. And here we are--PR, PR and PR again. Everything is very clear.

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