EXPERIMENTS IN HYPERSPEED


SEA-BASED OPTION


U.S. and South Korean warships escort the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson in the western Pacific Ocean. After years of research and tests, including the Army’s tests of the AHW, the Office of the Secretary of Defense has determined that the best option for a conventional prompt strike is a sea-launched hypersonic weapon. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Sean M. Castellano)


MAKING MOVES: KEY, AND VERY DIFFICULT Te dynamics of hypersonic flight make it hard for a speeding missile to make rapid evasive maneuvers shortly before target impact. Tink of trying to make a quick, precise turn while driv- ing: It’s easier at 35 miles an hour, harder at 70, and much harder at 7,000 miles an hour. Strider said the Advanced Hypersonic Weapon has overcome some of the challenges. “Maneuverability is a key aspect to its military utility. … Once it’s gliding, it’s able to fly cross-range, left or right in its flight path.”


Researchers have a math problem: how much energy to put into the weapon at launch—essentially, how much of a boost to give it—to make sure it hits its target with enough force. Engineers add up the energy required to lift the vehicle above the atmos- phere, the distance it needs to cover, how much time it will spend


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fighting the atmosphere’s drag when it re-enters, and how many deviations from a straight trajectory it needs to make.


“It’s just like you throw a paper airplane: Te harder you throw it, the farther it’s going to go,” Strider explained. “Same thing here. We’ve got to put enough energy into something that weighs quite a few pounds to throw it several hundred miles. Any maneuvers you make bleed off energy because you’re not powering it [at that point in its trajectory], so you have to be careful how many maneuvers you make so you can manage the energy that’s in it to make sure you can get to the target you want to.”


WHAT’S NEXT Whether the Advanced Hypersonic Weapon or any land-based hypersonic vehicle will be fielded is still an open question, though


Army AL&T Magazine


October-December 2018


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