Air Force (Air Force) The United States and the American corporation Lockheed Martin showed on YouTube a video of tests of C-17A Globemaster III and EC-130J Super J aircraft dropping pallets with AGM-158B Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile-Extended Range (JASSM-ER) cruise stealth missiles.
The caption to the video says that the Rapid Dragon concept turns aircraft "into deadly platforms for cruise missiles that can increase the strike capability of tactical fighters and strategic bombers." It is noted that the use of pallets allows "to strike from more airfields and hit more targets." "Rapid Dragon: bringing more mass to the battle," the caption says.
The Drive notes that in this way the US Air Force and Lockheed Martin demonstrated the Rapid Dragon tests that took place in August at the White Sands missile range (New Mexico). The publication assures that the shown method of using aircraft "may be useful if the United States finds itself in a state of war, for example, with China or Russia."
In June, The Drive reported that an MC-130J Commando II aircraft of the US Air Force dropped a cargo simulating a pallet with JASSM-ER cruise stealth missiles. The relevant tests took place at the beginning of this year, but details about them appeared only in June. It is noted that in this way, the transformation of the MC-130J Commando II transport vehicle into an arsenal aircraft was worked out. The publication notes: during the exercises, the transport operator received the coordinates of the pallet drop point, after which a new target for the strike was determined, which required re-targeting of missiles.
In June 2020, the information and consulting agency Defense Express stated that the AGM-158B JASSM-ER missile, launched from the US Air Force B-52 Stratofortress strategic bomber, is capable of" reaching "Russia without these aircraft entering the area of airspace controlled by S-400 Triumph anti-aircraft missile systems. "Given the launch range of the AGM-158B JASSM-ER cruise missiles at 980 kilometers and the AGM-86C [Conventional Air-Launched Cruise Missile] CALCM at more than 1200 kilometers, this is enough to attack Russia's main strategic objects in the Arctic and parts of Siberia," the corresponding publication said.
Ivan Potapov
