The U.S. Army and U.S. Navy are jointly pursuing the weapon, which includes the C-HGB (Common-Hypersonic Glide Body). The C-HGB consists of the weapon’s warhead, guidance system, cabling, and thermal protection shield.
In the second “successful end-to-end test” of the LRHW (Long-Range Hypersonic Weapon), the missile was live-fired from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, the Department of Defense announced on Dec. 12, 2024. This second “AUR (All Up Round),” “live-fire” test was also the first time the LRHW was launched from a “battery operated” TEL (Transporter-Erector Launcher),” bearing the need for rapid mobility and shoot-and-scoot scenarios before peer adversaries.
The first live-fire test took place on Jun. 28, in what the DoD also described as an “end-to-end flight test” of the hypersonic missile from the Pacific Missile Range in Kauai, Hawaii. “The test provided data on the end-to-end performance of the Conventional Prompt Strike and Long Range Hypersonic Weapon All Up Round” and “marked a step forward” for the programs.”
This second test of the LRHW follows its debut in the U.S. Army’s bi-annual Resolute Hunter exercise held from Jun. 25 to 27, 2024 at the Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington. Prior to that, on Jul. 10, the White House had announced the deployment to Germany of both the MDTF components comprising all four missiles by 2026. This was followed by the LRHW participating in Bamboo Eagle, an eight-day U.S. Air Force Warfare Center-led joint exercise spanning various locations across the United States, from Aug. 2-10, 2024.
#USArmy and Navy Successfully Test The Long-Range Hypersonic Weapon (LRHW), also known as Dark Eagle.https://t.co/qh9vP53lrW pic.twitter.com/bDGd13dVyu
— 𝔗𝔥𝔢 𝕯𝔢𝔞𝔡 𝕯𝔦𝔰𝔱𝔯𝔦𝔠𝔱△ 🇬🇪🇺🇦🇺🇲🇬🇷 (@TheDeadDistrict) December 13, 2024
The US Army and the USN are jointly pursuing the weapon as it shares what is described as the C-HGB (Common-Hypersonic Glide Body). The C-HGB is made up of the weapon’s warhead, guidance system, cabling and thermal protection shield. The USN’s version of the hypersonic weapon is called the CPS (Conventional Prompt Strike). Adopting a common hypersonic missile and “joint test opportunities” by the Army’s RCCTO (Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office) and the Navy’s SSP (Strategic Systems Programs) allow “more aggressive delivery timeline” and “cost savings.”
Latest test
The RCCTO and the SSP which will now use the test’s data to support the first first Army Operational Deployment and the Navy’s sea-based fielding. The officially released image showed the full length of the pencil-shaped missile, with the hypersonic glide body possibly encased in the nose cone that presumably splits open after the missile reaches a certain distance.
Whether the glide body was released in this live-fire, hit a target or was used to test the carrier rocket is not known. A weapon qualifies as a hypersonic missile when it crosses speeds of Mach 5. During Resolute Hunter and Bamboo Eagle, the LRHW TEL trailer was attached to a HEMTT (Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Truck).
“This test builds on several flight tests in which the Common Hypersonic Glide Body achieved hypersonic speed at target distances and demonstrates that we can put this capability in the hands of the warfighter,” the DoD release quoted Secretary of the Army Christine Wormuth. Secretary of the Navy Carlos del Toro meanwhile said they will “press forward to integrate” the CPS into the Navy’s “surface and sub-surface fleet.” This is an important revelation, as it implies that the U.S. Navy’s SSGNs (guided missile nuclear-powered submarines) and SSBNs (ballistic missile armed nuclear submarines) too might carry the CPS.
Video of LRHW Hypersonic Missile Test Launch Appears on the Internet
Today, from Cape Canaveral to Florida, from LC-46 site, the Dark Eagle missile with hypersonic glider will be launched
View full content here : https://t.co/j4oscGIzkH pic.twitter.com/3W5qDZXsUp
— Uncensored News (@uncensorednews9) December 13, 2024
It must also be noted that this test comes after the troubled USS Zumwalt returned to the water last week after 14 months of repairs that replaced its original and cost-prohibitive 155 mm AGS (Advanced Gun System) with launchers to fire the IRCPS (Intermediate-Range Conventional Prompt Strike) hypersonic missile, The War Zone reported.
LRHW and Multi-Domain Task Force
The LRHW, Lockheed Martin’s PrSM (Precision Strike Missile) form one component of the U.S. Army’s MDTF (Multi-Domain Task Force). The LRHW, also known as Dark Eagle, and the PrSM can reach ranges of 2,776 km and 400- 500 km, respectively. The other component is the MRC (Mid-Range Capabilities) Typhon system, comprising the SM-6 (Standard Missile-6) tweaked for surface strikes, and the Tomahawk LACM (Land-Attack Cruise Missile). Both have ranges of over 1,500 km.
US Navy awarded Lockheed Martin a contract to integrate Conventional Prompt Strike (CPS) weapon system onto Zumwalt-class destroyers. CPS is a hypersonic boost-glide weapon system that enables long range missile flight at speeds greater than Mach 5.https://t.co/oYac42bJKL pic.twitter.com/z9u8pinB9z
— Ryan Chan 陳家翹 (@ryankakiuchan) February 18, 2023
According to Defense News, the Army established the 2nd MDTF in Europe in 2021. Two other MDTFs are based in the Indo-Pacific theater with plans to set up two more for a total of five MDTFs. Three MDTFs will be focused on Pacific operations, one in Europe and one will be based at Fort Liberty, North Carolina, all capable of rapid deployment wherever needed. The 2nd MDTF, meanwhile, successfully deployed the MRC in the northern part of Philippines’s Luzon province on Apr. 11, 2024.
A U.S. Army statement in August’s Bamboo Eagle also marked the first time the service’s land-based fires were integrated into the U.S. Air Force-led exercise, the release said. Bamboo Eagle 24-3 “enabled” operations “in a new and demanding environment.” “Despite extreme heat, the battery demonstrated its ability to conduct sustained operations over an extended period.” For eight days, the unit “maintained a high level of readiness and operational tempo, participating in every pulse iteration and achieving a new level of total force integration.”
It further put the use of various cross-service multi-domain sensors forming the kill-chain, under whose umbrella weapons like the LRHW would operate, and the geography-influenced tactical needs in the western Pacific. “The 1MDTF plays a vital role in synchronizing long-range precision fires layered with long-range precision effects to create multiple dilemmas and neutralize adversary anti-access and area denial networks.
