Tue, Apr 27, 2010
Could Strike Anywhere On Earth In An Hour
The Obama administration is backing the development of a new
generation of missile that could strike anywhere on the planet in
an hour or less.
Called the "Prompt Global Strike" (PGS) system, it is built
around a hypersonic missile that could travel at speeds of up to
Mach 5 or 3,6000 miles per hour. A Tomahawk cruise missile flies at
about 550 miles per hour.
The Times of London reports that the White House confirmed that
President Obama was considering the deployment of the system. Part
of the reasoning cited was that a cruise missile failed to kill
Osama Bin Laden in 1998 because it was too late arriving at an
Al-Qaeda training camp. Bin Laden had left by the time the missile
hit its target.
The White House has reportedly requested nearly $250 million in
next year's budget for hypersonic research. The weapon could be
launched from air, sea, or ground, and be guided by GPS to its
target. The friction of the air at Mach 5 could generate so much
heat that the missile will need special shielding to keep from
melting in flight.
The PGS has drawn mixed reaction from the international
community. The Deputy Secretary of the Russian National Security
Council, General Yuri Baluyevsky, said that the U.S. had only
agreed to recent nuclear arms reductions because of its ability to
"kill you using conventional high-precision weapons.”
DARPA has already reportedly begun testing missiles that could
be used in a PGS system. The recent launch of a Falcon missile at
Vandenberg AFB in California was seen as one such test, but a
Pentagon spokesman said discussion of the Falcon as a hypersonic
guided missile was "premature."
U.S. officials have reportedly sought to reassure the
governments or Russia and China that any PGS missiles would be kept
separate from nuclear launch sites to prevent a mis-identification
of any launch. The recently-signed arms reduction treaty also
stipulates that the U.S. will reduce it's nuclear arsenal by one
missile for every PGS weapon brought on line.
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