EXPERIMENTS IN HYPERSPEED


WHAT’S ON THAT WARHEAD? Blundering into a nuclear exchange is one such possible implication that concerns defense analysts, and it has occasionally concerned Congress since the advent of the Prompt Global Strike program in the early 2000s. Congress has generally supported the program, but it has with- held funds for some requests from DOD, citing concerns about the possibility of accidental nuclear war. “Radars would provide much less warning time of a boost-glide weapon attack than a ballis- tic missile attack,” Acton wrote in his 2013 study “Silver Bullet?” If a targeted country does not know whether the weapon due to arrive in minutes is carrying a conven- tional or a nuclear warhead, would it take the risk of leaving what could be a nuclear strike unchallenged?


FIRST TEST FAILS


NASA’s X-43A hypersonic research aircraft and its modified Pegasus booster rocket spiral into the Pacific Ocean off the California coast in June 2001. After being released from NASA’s NB-52B carrier aircraft, the X-43A and the Pegasus booster, which was supposed to acceler- ate the X-43A to Mach 7, lost control about eight seconds after ignition of the Pegasus rocket motor. Explosive charges were triggered to terminate the flight, which was part of NASA’s research into alternative uses for hypersonic flight. (Photo by Jim Ross/NASA via Getty Images)


Acton is not convinced that DOD has made a serious case “that the strategic benefits [of having hypersonic weapons] outweigh the strategic risks of escalation with Russia and China.” Others worry about the wider risk of arms-racing and missile proliferation. Air Force Lt. Col. Jeff Schreiner wrote in a 2014 Stars and Stripes op-ed calling for a hypersonic test ban: “Te tactical planner in me sees countless uses for hypersonic delivery plat- forms against a range of target sets. Te strategic planner sees the ability to help offset other nations’ strategic assets with a conventional versus nuclear strike. Te pessimist in me sees a technology that has the potential to spiral out of control in many nations into deadly new nuclear delivery platforms.”


for worse hypersonic weapons are likely to become a significant feature of the inter- national landscape and could have quite significant strategic implications. I think we’re kind of feeling our way through


60 Army AL&T Magazine


what those implications could be,” said James Acton, a nuclear physicist with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, in a September 2017 interview with Army AL&T.


October-December 2018


MACH 10 IS NOT ENOUGH One benefit that could counterbalance the risks of inadvertent escalation would be the ability to get around an adver- sary’s missile defense systems. Right now missile defenses are designed with a ballis- tic missile’s flight path, altitude and speed


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