With the United States military looking for faster ways to
destroy targets anywhere in the world, it should come as no surprise that a new
hypersonic cruise missile is currently in development for precision strikes.
Conventionally armed Trident II missiles (which are the same
size, have the same speed and are launched from the same locations) have been
tested by the Navy since 1993. However, many are concerned that the launch of
ballistic missiles equipped with multiple warheads could spark a crisis far
more dangerous the one that it is supposed to subdue.
"The launch of such a missile could provoke an
inappropriate response from one of the nuclear powers, could provoke a
full-scale counterattack using strategic nuclear forces," said Russian
president Vladimir Putin in a 2006 state of the nation address.
Donald Rumsfeld, former United States Secretary of Defense,
seemed less concerned over the possibility that America's actions might be seen
as nuclear-inclined. "Everyone in the world would know that [the missile]
was conventional," said Rumsfeld. Many in congress along with weapons
experts aren’t quite as sure as Rumsfeld.
With conventionally-tipped Trident II missiles catching flak
from almost all sides, the Department of Defense is looking to the X-51
WaveRider as a solution. The 14-ft long missile can travel at hypersonic speeds
(greater than 3,600MPH or Mach 5). At that speed, the X-51 is seven times
faster than the humble Tomahawk cruise missile and can make the trip from the Arabian
Sea to eastern Afghanistan in roughly 20 minutes. Tomahawk missiles took two
hours to make the same trek in 1998 and missed Osama Bin Laden by 30 minutes. Popular
Mechanics reports:
What
the X-51 does is to turn some of the most brutal effects of hypersonic flight
to its advantage. Take shock waves, for example. Bursting through the air at a
hypersonic rate produces a train of waves, one after the other, which can drag
down an aircraft. But the X-51 is a "wave rider," with a sharp nose
shaped to make the waves break at precisely the right angle. All of the
pressure is directed beneath the missile, lifting it up. The shock waves also
compress the air to help fuel the X-51's combustion process.
The X-51 would be launched from a B-52 Stratofortress and
carried to supersonic speeds by a booster rocket. From there, the missile’s
scramjet engine would take over. The X-51 has the advantage of being able to
hit targets much quicker than the Tomahawk missiles employed today without
being mistaken for a much larger nuclear weapon. "You don't worry about
starting World War III," said Air Force chief scientist Mark J. Lewis.