US hypersonic missile fails in test- 2nd consecutive failed attempt
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Re: US hypersonic missile fails in test- 2nd consecutive failed attempt
#2non-paywall: https://archive.ph/Cga4V
Re: US hypersonic missile fails in test- 2nd consecutive failed attempt
#3hypersonic is fascinating - missile goes so fast it changes the behaviour of air molecules, which behave then behave in unpredictable ways. You basically need wind tunnels and lots of tests. US will get this right, no question, just a matter of when
Re: US hypersonic missile fails in test- 2nd consecutive failed attempt
#4I predict they will keep pouring money into this pit until they get a success...and then quietly wind down the program. The cost-per-mission will end being ridiculously high with no meaningful gains over just using Tomahawks in volume, overwhelming any defense with numbers.
Recall that we also once thought it was imperative to develop a "stealth" destroyer
Re: US hypersonic missile fails in test- 2nd consecutive failed attempt
#5Given that the bomber gap, missile gap and the cruiser gap was all shown to be fictional, I do wonder if the perceived hypersonic gap is real.
Re: US hypersonic missile fails in test- 2nd consecutive failed attempt
#6both test failures seem to have been during the booster rocket phase and they weren't even able to test or collect data on the missile component
Lockheed is in charge of development, just like the SLS program. I'm curious how hard it would be to have SpaceX make an attempt or if they would even be willing. Seems safe to say they know rockets far better than Lockheed
Re: US hypersonic missile fails in test- 2nd consecutive failed attempt
#7I predict they will keep pouring money into this pit until they get a success...and then quietly wind down the program. The cost-per-mission will end being ridiculously high with no meaningful gains over just using Tomahawks in volume, overwhelming any defense with numbers. Recall that we also once thought it was imperative to develop a "stealth" destroyer
Russia already has hypersonic. And there is no realistic defense against them. They scare the crap out of DC because a Russian sub could pop up off the coast of New Jersey and 5 million people including 99% of all US politicians would be dead 6 minutes later. So of course the US needs them.
Re: US hypersonic missile fails in test- 2nd consecutive failed attempt
#8Given that the bomber gap, missile gap and the cruiser gap was all shown to be fictional, I do wonder if the perceived hypersonic gap is real.
correct me if I'm wrong here, but I believe institutionally those were thought to be real by the people working on them at the time.
Re: US hypersonic missile fails in test- 2nd consecutive failed attempt
#9I predict they will keep pouring money into this pit until they get a success...and then quietly wind down the program. The cost-per-mission will end being ridiculously high with no meaningful gains over just using Tomahawks in volume, overwhelming any defense with numbers. Recall that we also once thought it was imperative to develop a "stealth" destroyer
I wonder if one hypersonic missile would cost like 10 Tomahawks? 20 Tomahawks? Overpowering defenses is not always easy. One Tomahawk is about $2M.
Also, time to reach the target may play a role, given that the launching platform cannot come closer than, say, 500 miles in either case. We assume that the adversary can detect the launch in either case; the time to react would be very different for a Tomahawk (about 0.75M; 1 hour) and a hypersonic missile (say, 5M; 10 min).
Re: US hypersonic missile fails in test- 2nd consecutive failed attempt
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