Is The Pentagon's Global Strike Weapon Program Dead?

Pentagon's Global Strike Weapon Stuck In Limbo; Congress Fears Accidental WWIII -- Aol Defense

As part of its ongoing strategic "pivot" towards the Pacific, early this year the Defense Department announced it would design a new missile able to quickly cross long distances and penetrate sophisticated air defenses, of the kind rapidly proliferating across Asia. The so-called "conventional prompt strike option" would be submarine-launched, the Pentagon said in its January Defense Budget Priorities and Choices release.

The department placed great emphasis on the new weapon, declaring that "we had to invest in capabilities required to maintain our military's continued freedom of action."

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My Comment: These worries are justified .... if such a missile is launched the Russians or Chinese will have no way of knowing if such a missile is carrying a conventional or nuclear payload .... they would have to assume the worst. And in a nuclear age .... worst means Armageddon.

The Pentagon Is Making It Clear That They Want A "Global-Strike" Weapon

Image: An artist's conception of the Hypersonic Technology Vehicle-2, a prototype component of a planned conventional missile capable of striking any location in the world within one hour. The U.S. Air Force late last month requested information from defense contractors about the technologies they might propose for the future weapon (U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency/Fox News).

Pentagon Readies Competition for "Global-Strike" Weapon -- Global Security Newswire

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Air Force is taking initial steps to launch a defense-industry competition for building a new missile capable of flying at hypersonic speeds and attacking targets anywhere around the world within 60 minutes of launch (see GSN, June 16).

The Air Force Space and Missilhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gife Systems Center on May 31 solicited information from defense contractors on the technologies they might propose using for the service's future Conventional Strike Missile.

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My Comment: They may want such a weapon system .... including the incoming U.S. Defense Secretary .... but they are also cutting the funding for it.

No Ban On Strategic Conventional Weapons In The New START Treaty

U.S. Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, answers a questions during a a press conference in Kabul, Afghanistan, Dec.17, 2010. DOD photo by U.S. Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Chad J. McNeeley

U.S. Military Chiefs Opposed Russian Ban On Strategic Conventional Weapons -- Washington Times

The military's joint chiefs closely watched U.S.-Russian arms talks and rejected Moscow's call for banning new conventionally-armed long-range missiles in the START arms accord, but accepted some curbs, according to a letter from the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman, outlined the opposition in a letter made public on Monday endorsing Senate ratification of the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty now being debated in the Senate.

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My Comment: This opposition from the Chiefs is a clear sign that they now regard the `Prompt Global Strike` program as an essential component in their war planning against terrorism. For as long as I can remember, the need to have a weapon that can quickly target and strike any point on the globe has been on the wish list for many past Generals, intelligence agencies, and White House administrations. I guess this program will continue to develop .... and I would not be surprised if `Prompt Global Strike` becomes operational in some distant future.

Another Test Of The Falcon Hypersonic Test Vehicle Is Slated For Next Year

The Falcon HTV-2 hypervelocity vehicle could glide at a speed at Mach 20, reaching targets 4,000 nautical miles away in 30 minutes. Image: DARPA

Pentagon To Test 2nd Near-Space Strike Craft -- Washington Times

Weapon designed for urgent threats.

Defense Department scientists are set to conduct a second test launch next year of the Falcon HTV-2 experimental superweapon after the first flight this year ended when the autopilot deliberately crashed the unmanned glider into the ocean as a safety measure.

The Falcon Hypersonic Test Vehicle is designed to skim the top of the atmosphere just below space, and is a key element of the Pentagon's Conventional Prompt Global Strike (CPGS) capability — a program to build non-nuclear strategic weapons that can strike conventionally anywhere in the world in less than an hour.

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More News on The Falcon Hypersonic Test Vehicle

Darpa: Now We Know Why Our Mach-20 Ship Crashed -- The Danger Room
Falcon is healthy, few tweaks will suffice to fly the next mission in late 2011 -- The Register
DARPA Concludes Review Of Falcon HTV-2 Flight Anomaly -- Space Travel
DARPA: Hypersonic strato-ship crackup was no biggie -- The Register
DARPA explains Falcon HTV-2 flight failure -- Flight Global
Does US need $1bn hypersonic test area after HTV-2 failure? -- Flight Global
'Prompt Global Strike' Weapons Still Years Away -- National Defense

President Obama Supports The Prompt Global Strike Program

Photo: LEE CELANO/AFP/Getty Images

Hyperfast Missile To Hit Anywhere In An Hour -- Times Online

HAUNTED by the memory of a lost opportunity to kill Osama Bin Laden before he attacked the World Trade Center in New York, US military planners have won President Barack Obama’s support for a new generation of high-speed weapons that are intended to strike anywhere on Earth within an hour.

Obama’s interest in Prompt Global Strike (PGS), a nonnuclear weapons programme, has alarmed China and Russia and complicated nuclear arms reduction negotiations.

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Previous Post: Pentagon Plans High-Speed Alternative To Nuclear Weapons

My Comment: President Obama clearly wants to have this option on his table .... the problem is that is such a weapon is used, the Russians and/or Chinese may interpret such a launch as a nuclear attack.

The best analysis on this new weapon system comes from Joseph Cirincione at Foreign Policy. The link to his analysis and commentary is here.

Pentagon Plans High-Speed Alternative To Nuclear Weapons

Photo from The Danger Room

U.S. Faces Choice on New Weapons for Fast Strikes -- New York Times

WASHINGTON — In coming years, President Obama will decide whether to deploy a new class of weapons capable of reaching any corner of the earth from the United States in under an hour and with such accuracy and force that they would greatly diminish America’s reliance on its nuclear arsenal.

Yet even now, concerns about the technology are so strong that the Obama administration has acceded to a demand by Russia that the United States decommission one nuclear missile for every one of these conventional weapons fielded by the Pentagon. That provision, the White House said, is buried deep inside the New Start treaty that Mr. Obama and President Dmitri A. Medvedev signed in Prague two weeks ago.

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Previous Post: Does The U.S. Have Conventionally Armed ICBMs On Standby?

More News On U.S. Development Of Fast Strike Weapons

Obama Revives Rumsfeld’s Missile Scheme, Risks Nuke War -- The Danger Room
US ponders conventional ICBMs -- The Guardian
Your Prompt Global Strike Primer -- Washington Independent
Pentagon Plans High-Speed Alternative to Nukes -- Newser

Does The U.S. Have Conventionally Armed ICBMs On Standby?

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Gates Says U.S. Has Conventionally Armed ICBMs -- Defense Tech

Yesterday, on NBC’s Meet the Press, Defense Secretary Robert Gates may have revealed the existence of a new weapon in America’s arsenal, a conventionally-armed ICBM. It was thought development and deployment of conventionally tipped ICBMs was still years away; a prototype is scheduled for a test flight next month.

Responding to a question from NBC’s David Gregory on the ability to deter nuclear armed rogue states, Gates said: “We have, in addition to the nuclear deterrent today, a couple of things we didn’t have in the Soviet days… And we have prompt global strike affording us some conventional alternatives on long-range missiles that we didn’t have before.”

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My Comment: The comments by Sec. of Defense Gates on Prompt Global Strike occurs at the 15:40 mark in the Meet the Press Interview. His remarks are surprising .... I was always under the impression that this program was in the development and testing level .... not in the implementation and operational level. If true .... this is a very dangerous development.

More News On Conventionally Armed ICBMs and Prompt Global Strike

Prompt Global Strike: World Military Superiority Without Nuclear Weapons -- OpEdNews
U.S. looks to nonnuclear weapons to use as deterrent -- Washington Post
US moves from nuclear arms to conventional missiles with global reach -- The Independent
Prompt Global Strike: World Military Superiority Without Nuclear Weapons -- Australia.to.news
Moscow alarmed over prospect of long-range missiles -- Sydney Morning Herald
The New START Treaty does not contain any constraints on current or planned U.S. conventional prompt global strike capability. -- U.S. Department of Defense