Why the US is cutting funding for hypersonic weapons programs
The US Congress has halved the cost of the AGM-183A Air-Launched Rapid Response Weapon (ARRW) advanced hypersonic missile development program in 2022 for the Air Force, Breaking Defense writes. "Newspaper.Ru" was looking into what the reduction in project funding might be related to.
It is reported that the US Air Force has requested about $ 161 million for the purchase of 12 AGM-183A missiles from Lockheed Martin. But they will not be able to purchase them - the bill provides for the allocation of about $ 80 million. The reduction in funding is explained in the document by delays in testing AGM-183A.
The AGM-183A rocket was created to replace the HCSW project, which was closed in 2020. It is designed to defeat land targets and water bodies that are rapidly changing their location.
Earlier, US Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall expressed dissatisfaction with the pace of development of the Pentagon's hypersonic weapons programs against the background of the successes of Moscow and Beijing. "Russia and China are moving very fast. They clearly see the value of [hypersonic weapons]," Air Force Magazine quotes the minister from a speech at the Conference on Air, Space and Cyberspace (AFA). Kendall called the pace of development of the American program "insufficient"
- I told the newspaper.Ru" Editor-in-chief of the National Defense magazine, Director of the Center for Analysis of the World Arms Trade (CAMTO) Igor Korotchenko.
In 2021, the US Air Force planned to conduct three tests of a rocket accelerator on a prototype of the AGM-183A air-based hypersonic rapid reaction missile. It was assumed that in the case of a successful test, a promising missile would be integrated into the troops as early as 2022, but the tests ended in failure.
"The AGM-183A never flew, but the Pentagon reported that it would still fly, so you can lay a budget for the purchase. Apparently, the budget commission of the US Congress did not see the point in allocating money for something that will not fly," he told the newspaper.Ru" editor of the magazine "Arsenal of the Fatherland", military expert Alexey Leonkov.
He noted that in 2021, the US Accounting Chamber submitted a report stating that to create a hypersonic missile, technologies are needed that the US military-industrial complex does not have.
According to Leonkov, the main problem when creating the AGM-183A was its electronics.
"AGM-183A is a two-stage cruise missile, the first stage is an upper stage, which was supposed to accelerate the head part to 5-6 Mach numbers, after which the rocket should maneuver and hit the target point. But at the same time there were failures on electronics. The Americans were able to check the missile for maneuverability and hitting the target only in computer form. With such results, it is natural to start mass production of a rocket, money is wasted," Leonkov said.
According to military expert Dmitry Litovkin, the decision to reduce the budget for the development of the AGM-183A was probably made not only due to its unsuccessful tests, but also the lack of ready-made developments.
Litovkin said.
According to Viktor Murakhovsky, a member of the expert Council of the Military-Industrial Collegium, Russia's leadership in the field of hypersonic weapons is associated with a powerful "technical reserve" created back in the USSR.
"Experts know the "product 4202", which was tested in the USSR, but the work could not be completed due to the collapse of the country and the termination of funding. Then this direction was revived," he says. According to him, it was also possible to create hypersonic maneuvering weapons thanks to the use of new materials, as well as product control systems that allow them to maneuver at such speeds in the atmosphere and beyond the atmosphere.
Irina Alshayeva
