The U.S. Army has named its new land-based hypersonic weapon system "Dark Eagle".
The Army has indicated that it is "confident" that the weapon will enter service in 2023.
Once deployed, Dark Eagle will provide the US Army with a land-based, long-range capability.
Importantly the weapon will be almost invulnerable to the air defense systems that are in place
now.
The progress in this is also critical since Russia & China are fielding their own hypersonic
weapons and actually lagging behind in this.
In this video Defense Updates analyzes how the "Dark Eagle" hypersonic weapon of the
US Army could be an excellent deterrence against Russia & China?
Let's get started.
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An object is said to be hypersonic once they exceed the speeds of Mach 5 that is 5 times
the speed of sound.
This is about 1,715 meters per second or 3,836mph or 6,174 km/h.
There are currently 3 methods being applied to make hypersonic weapons.
The first is using a Scramjet engine.
The scramjet is an innovation on the Ramjet.
Ramjet engines can power flight to supersonic speeds but scramjet can enable the missiles
to reach hypersonic speeds.
The scramjet engine can power a hypersonic cruise missile.
The second is through the use of ALBM or Air-Launched Ballistic missile.
As the name suggests, this kind of missile is ballistic in nature but is launched from
air, unlike traditional ballistic missiles which are launched from land or sea-based
platforms.
The third is using HGV or Hypersonic Glide Vehicle.
In this method, the system is launched to extremely high altitudes using a Ballistic
Missile where it skips across the Earth’s upper atmosphere.
The vehicle then separates from the carrier and glides back to the earth towards its intended
target attaining hypersonic speed.
The glide vehicle could be powered or unpowered.
Dark Eagle uses this approach based on C-HGB or Common Hypersonic Glide Body.
The design of the Common-Hypersonic Glide Body is based on the previously developed
Alternate Re-Entry System, which was tested in the early 2010s as part of the U.S Army's
Advanced Hypersonic Weapon program.
The Alternate Re-Entry System was itself based on the Sandia Winged Energetic Reentry Vehicle
Experiment (SWERVE) prototype developed by Sandia National Laboratories in the 1980s.
C-HGB includes a conventional warhead, guidance system, cabling, and thermal protection shield.
C-HGB will use the booster rocket motor to reach hypersonic speed, jettison the expended
rocket booster, and then glide to its target.
The U.S Navy is the leading the design while the U.S Army leading the production.
The C-HGB has been successfully tested twice, in October 2017 and March 2020
Dark Eagle combines the unpowered Common-Hypersonic Glide Body (C-HGB) with a large rocket booster.
The missile has a range of 1,700 miles or around 2,735 km.
As per reports, the U.S Army will deploy Dark Eagle in artillery batteries of eight missiles
each.
That will consist of four truck-bound transporter-erector-launcher vehicles with two missiles each, plus a
control & operations center.
The mobility will ensure that the system won't be easily taken out by preemptive strikes.
Also, the relatively compact size means that aircraft like C-130J Super Hercules will
transport the system, allowing quick deployment in the required battle-space.
Dark Eagle will combine the high speed of a ballistic missile with the maneuverability
of a cruise missile making it almost unstoppable.
Hypersonic weapons are currently being persuaded mainly by America, Russia, China, France and
India.
Russian is at the forefront of hypersonic weapons.
It has reached an advanced level with two hypersonic weapons - Khinzal & Avangard.
The Kinzhal or Dagger is an ALBM or air Launched Ballistic Missile.
According to the Russian president, units in the country’s Southern Military District,
which borders Ukraine and the Black Sea, have deployed the missiles operationally.
Avangard is a nuclear-tipped hypersonic boost-glide vehicle.
Earlier this year, Russian defense minister, Sergei Shoigu, stated that the first missile
unit equipped with the Avangard had entered combat duty.
China has developed DF-17 missile along with DF-ZF Hypersonic Glide Vehicle.
DF-17 or Dongfeng-17 is a Chinese solid-fuelled road-mobile medium-range ballistic missile
that mounts the DF-ZF Hypersonic Glide Vehicle.
The DF-17 & DF-ZF, was officially unveiled at the National Day military parade on 1 October
2019.
President Biden's administration not only keeping several of President Trump’s weapons
development programs in place, but it is also seeking to expand a few of these.
One of these is the hypersonic weapons as the U.S plays catch up.
Dark Eagle could be the first step when it comes to restoring the balance when it comes
to hypersonic weapons.
Strategically it will add a lot of teeth to US Army.
Dark Eagle could be used to targets positions across the South China Sea and even deep into
China when launched positions in the Philippines, Vietnam, and Japan.
Similarly if deployed in Europe, it could cover a significant part of Russia in its
strike envelope.
It remains to be seen how things will pan out in the coming days.