Abstract:The LRHW/CPS hypersonic missile is a new generation of land-sea universal medium-range hypersonic ballistic missile that the U.S. military will be equipped with in the future, which has been successfully tested by the U.S. Army and Navy on May 23, 2024 at the Bakinsa Pacific Missile Range off the west coast of Kauai, Hawaii. This paper mainly introduces and analyzes the development and performance of this type of missile.
Keywords: United States, LRHW/CPS hypersonic missile, advanced missile and smart munition
TR-2试验中起飞瞬间的LRHW/CPS高超声速导弹
On June 28, 2024, the U.S. Department of Defense announced that the U.S. Army and Navy jointly completed the first full-scale flight test of the LRHW/CPS hypersonic missile, codenamed TR-2, in a full combat configuration, at the Basands Pacific Missile Range off the west coast of Kauai, Hawaii, on May 23. It is reported that the LRHW/CPS hypersonic missile in this test was launched from a land-based missile fixed launch frame at the Pacific Missile Range in Bajinsha, and the test provided "end-to-end" performance data of the LRHW/CPS hypersonic missile, and marked another step forward for the LRHW/CPS hypersonic missile project.
Introduction to the LRHW/CPS hypersonic missile
LRHW/CPS is a land-sea universal medium- and long-range hypersonic ballistic missile
The LRHW/CPS hypersonic missile is a land-sea universal medium- and long-range hypersonic ballistic missile developed by the United States after withdrawing from the INF Treaty, which made its first public appearance at the United States Hypersonic Weapons Summit held on October 28, 2020. Lieutenant General R. Wolfe. Among them, LRHW (nickname: Dark Eagle, Chinese translation: long-range hypersonic weapon) is the land-based version of this type of missile, mainly equipped with the US Army, the launch platform is a land-based mobile missile launcher with TEL capability composed of M983A4 tractor and M870 semi-trailer, and CPS (also known as IR CPS, Chinese translation: conventional rapid strike/medium-range conventional rapid strike) is the sea-based version of this type of missile, mainly equipped with the US Navy, and the launch platform includes three modified "Zumwalt" CLASS GUIDED MISSILE DESTROYERS, FOLLOWED BY THE "VIRGINIA" BLOCK V ATTACK NUCLEAR SUBMARINE AND THE SSNX NEW GENERATION ATTACK NUCLEAR SUBMARINE UNDER DEVELOPMENT.
Footage of the flight test of the C-HGB hypersonic vehicle in March 2020, which was carried by the STARS-3 (Chinese translation: Strategic Target System-3) launch vehicle
Before the full flight test of the LRHW/CPS hypersonic missile, the United States has actually conducted many tests on the LRHW/CPS hypersonic missile, the C-HGB hypersonic vehicle and supporting equipment, some of which have been successful and some have failed, such as: the C-HGB hypersonic vehicle has been successful in two flight tests in October 2017 and March 2020; During the JFC-1 flight test in June 2022, the CPS hypersonic missile could not collect some flight profile data due to abnormal conditions during the flight. During the JFC-2 flight test in March 2023, the LRHW hypersonic missile was canceled due to a pre-launch detection failure.
Approximate structural cross-sectional view of the LRHW/CPS hypersonic missile
In terms of performance, the main basic parameters of the LRHW / CPS hypersonic missile are as follows:
- Weight: 7.39 tons
- Engine/Booster: Two-stage solid-fuel rocket engine/booster
- Engine/booster diameter: about 0.9 meters
- Maximum flight speed: Mach 15 (Mach 17 is also indicated)
- Maximum range: about 3600 km
- Guidance system: inertial guidance + GPS guidance (speculative)
- Hit accuracy: 0.15 meters
- Main targets: land/sea stationary targets
- Procurement cost: The procurement cost of the first LRHW/CPS hypersonic missile (including the supporting launch box/canister with the "storage, transportation and distribution" function) may reach $81 million, but if 300 missiles are procured thereafter, the procurement cost of each missile may drop to $41 million (presumably).
A model of the C-HGB hypersonic vehicle previously publicly demonstrated by the United States
The LRHW/CPS hypersonic missile carries a C-HGB (Chinese translation: "universal hypersonic glide") hypersonic vehicle in the warhead fairing, which is based on the technology development of the HGB (Chinese translation: hypersonic glide) hypersonic vehicle in the AHW (Chinese translation: advanced hypersonic weapon) program led by the US Army in 2008. C-HGB is essentially an unpowered hypersonic glide vehicle with the aerodynamic shape of "ball cone + double cone + 4 wings", with a total length of about 1.9 meters, a tail diameter of about 0.45 meters, and a length ratio of about 2:3 for the first and second cones. The head of the C-HGB hypersonic vehicle is a high-ablation spherical cone made of carbon synthetic materials, and the hypersonic vehicle also carries a tungsten alloy high-explosive fragmentation warhead weighing 544 kg (containing a charge of about 227 kg (presumably)), and the C-HGB hypersonic vehicle is also equipped with guidance systems, cables and other devices. The C-HGB hypersonic vehicle can carry out hypersonic orbit change maneuver flights similar to "drifting" in the near space, so it has a strong penetration capability in the face of the anti-missile system.
Introduction to the future development of LRHW/CPS hypersonic missiles
The LRHW hypersonic missile equipped by the US Army is equipped with a land-based mobile missile launcher, and one launcher can carry two LRHW hypersonic missiles
According to the current plan released by the United States, from July to September 2024, the United States will continue to conduct tests of LRHW/CPS hypersonic missiles, including live-fire tests of land-based mobile missile launchers of LRHW hypersonic missiles codenamed JFC-2R3, and cold launch tests of CPS hypersonic missiles codenamed JFC-4. Among them, as long as the JFC-2R3 test is successful, the LRHW hypersonic missile will officially enter service with the US Army. The first production LRHW hypersonic missile is expected to be delivered to the US Army within 6 weeks of successful testing, and the first 8 production LRHW hypersonic missiles will be delivered within 11 months of successful testing. At the same time, the U.S. Army has also received LRHW hypersonic missiles and corresponding supporting equipment, including land-based mobile missile launchers, for training. The U.S. Navy plans to test-launch CPS hypersonic missiles from the converted USS Zumwalt missile destroyer in 2025, and the first "Virginia" BLOCK V attack nuclear submarine capable of launching CPS hypersonic missiles may join the U.S. Navy around 2028.
The DDG-1000 "Zumwalt" missile destroyer, which is currently undergoing modification, will dismantle the original two AGS 155 naval guns after refitting, and the original gun emplacements will be modified with four APM universal vertical launchers, each APM universal vertical launcher can be loaded with three CPS hypersonic missiles, and a single ship can carry a total of 12 CPS hypersonic missiles at one time
Rendering of the Virginia BLOCK V attack nuclear submarine, which carries four VPM/APM universal vertical launchers in the middle of its hull, which can be used to launch CPS hypersonic missiles
In addition, according to the information previously disclosed by the US Air Force, the air-based HCSW (Chinese translation: "hypersonic conventional strike weapon") hypersonic missile of the LRHW/CPS hypersonic missile, although no development and testing has been carried out at present, if the AGM-183A hypersonic missile finally fails to equip the troops as scheduled, the US Air Force can start the HCSW hypersonic missile project for development and testing at any time.
The AGM-183A hypersonic missile previously tested by the US Air Force
Finally, according to the information disclosed by the United States at this stage, although the LRHW/CPS hypersonic missile can only hit fixed targets on land or at sea at present, it may have the ability to strike large mobile targets at sea by upgrading technical means in the future.
summary
The future equipping of the LRHW/CPS hypersonic missile will further enhance the long-range precision combat capability of the US military
To sum up, the LRHW/CPS hypersonic missile has the characteristics of long range, fast flight speed, strong penetration ability, high strike accuracy, and good platform versatility. In the future, with the commissioning of this missile, on the one hand, it will make up for the equipment gap in the field of a new generation of medium-range/medium-range ballistic missiles that existed for a long time after the US military was limited by the "INF Treaty", and on the other hand, it will further improve the long-range precision combat capability and combat effectiveness of the US military, and make the United States more diversified deterrence means for its potential adversaries, especially in the future, once the LRHW/CPS hypersonic missile is deployed in the first island chain or Western Europe, it will greatly increase the air defense and anti-missile pressure of China and Russia. Of course, the LRHW/CPS hypersonic missile now also has certain shortcomings, such as: the warhead is small, the damage power is limited, etc., at the same time, because the LRHW/CPS hypersonic missile supporting the C-HGB hypersonic vehicle adopts a double-cone aerodynamic shape, therefore, its maneuvering penetration capability is also slightly inferior to the hypersonic vehicle using the lifting body/wave-riding body aerodynamic shape.