PREPARE TO LAUNCH
“LRHW and MRC are complimentary weapon systems, fill- ing gaps in the Army’s long range precision fires portfolio,” said James Mills, deputy director for the Army’s Hypersonic Project Office at RCCTO. “Both systems provide extended ranges that support the Army’s multidomain operations.”
FUELING THE LONG-RANGE NEED Te Army has prioritized the LRHW modernization portfolio in support of the National Defense Strategy to provide combatant commanders with diverse capabilities for battlefield dominance at a multitude of ranges and to address the critical need for U.S. hypersonic capabilities across domains and platforms to effectively engage high-value targets and disrupt the ability of potential adversaries to anticipate and respond to attacks. LRHW does not replace an existing Army or DOD weapon. It is a new class of weapon for the Army and DOD and is the nation’s first operational hypersonic weapon, with a total of three LRHW batteries planned for delivery.
“Te responsiveness and survivability of hypersonic weapons is unmatched by traditional ballistic capabilities for precision targeting, especially in anti-access/area denial environments,” said Lt. Gen. Robert A. Rasch, director of Hypersonics, Directed
Energy, Space and Rapid Acquisitions for RCCTO. Rasch testi- fied March 12, 2024, at a House Armed Services Committee hearing where policies, programs and priorities associated with U.S. hypersonic capabilities and intent of adversaries’ hypersonic development efforts were addressed.
Anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) aims at preventing an adversary from entering or operating freely within a specific area, typi- cally a region of strategic interest. It involves the deployment of ground-based missile systems, artillery and other assets to protect key locations, deny access to enemy forces and create a layered defense against potential threats.
Te RCCTO was chartered in April 2019 as part of the Army’s Modernization Strategy, to spearhead developing, prototyping and delivering emerging technological capabilities on an accel- erated timeline to combat units for operational experimentation.
In 2020, the LRHW Abbreviated-Capability Development Document (A-CDD)—used to establish the Army’s require- ment for development of a materiel capability—was validated by Army Futures Command. Tis A-CDD confirmed the need and provided the source for desired capabilities to execute rapid experimentation and prototyping efforts.
“Upon the decision to embark on the development of these systems, the services, government labs and industry rallied together with remarkable speed to build out a commercial indus- trial base to meet combatant commander requirements,” said Col. Patrick D. Farrell, project manager for MRC and Task Force STRIKE lead.
PUTTING THE LONG IN LONG-RANGE Te LRHW is a road-mobile and air-transportable weapon system, armed with missiles that can travel at speeds in excess of 3,800 miles per hour, with a reported range of 1,725 miles. It communicates with the Army’s command and control networks via the Advanced Field Artillery Tactical Data System.
TOMAHAWK TAKE-OFF
RCCTO’s MRC Project Office, in conjunction with Soldiers from the 1st Multi-Domain Task Force and the Navy’s Program Executive Office for Unmanned Aviation and Strike Weapons, successfully demonstrated the launch of a Tomahawk missile from the Army’s prototype MRC system in June 2023. (Photo courtesy of Darrell Ames, PEO MS)
Te LRHW system consists of Army ground support equip- ment—one battery operations center (BOC), four transporter erector launchers, a BOC support vehicle and up to eight All-Up Rounds plus Canister. Te LRHW leverages a Navy-designed missile (a two-stage booster and the Common Hypersonic Glide Body (CHGB)) packaged in an Army canister.
Te system “can reach the top of the Earth’s atmosphere and remain just beyond the range of air and missile defense systems
62 Army AL&T Magazine Summer 2024
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