A cruise missile is an unmanned self-propelled guided vehicle that sustains flight through aerodynamic lift for most of its flight path and whose primary mission is to place an ordnance or special payload on a target. Cruise missiles are designed to deliver a large warhead over long distances with high precision. Modern cruise missiles are capable of traveling at high subsonic, supersonic, or hypersonic speeds, are self-navigating, and are able to fly on a non-ballistic, extremely low-altitude trajectory.
The Aegis ballistic missile defense system, also known as Sea-Based Midcourse, is a Missile Defense Agency program under the United States Department of Defense developed to provide missile defense against short and intermediate-range ballistic missiles. The program is part of the United States national missile defense strategy and European NATO missile defense system.
The M270 Multiple Launch Rocket System is an American armored self-propelled multiple launch rocket system.
The Field Artillery Branch is the field artillery branch of the United States Army. This branch, alongside the Infantry and Cavalry branches, was formerly considered to be one of the "classic" combat arms branches, but is today included within the "Maneuver, Fires and Effects" (MFE) classification, in accordance with current U.S. Army organizational doctrine.
The DARPA FALCON Project was a two-part joint project between the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and the United States Air Force (USAF) and is part of Prompt Global Strike. The first part of the project aimed to develop a Small Launch System (SLS) capable of accelerating hypersonic gliding weapons as well as launching small satellites into Earth orbit. The second part of the project aimed to develop Hypersonic Weapon Systems (HWS): a short term high performance hypersonic gliding weapon previously named the X-41 Common Aero Vehicle (CAV) that could be launched from Expendable Launch Vehicles (ELV), Reusable Launch Vehicles (RLVs), Hypersonic Cruise Vehicles (HCV), or Space Maneuvering Vehicles (SMP), and a long term hypersonic cruise aircraft named the Hypersonic Cruise Vehicle (HCV). This two-part program was announced in 2003 and continued into 2006.
The AGM-179 Joint Air-to-Ground Missile (JAGM) is an American military program to develop an air-to-surface missile to replace the current air-launched BGM-71 TOW, AGM-114 Hellfire, and AGM-65 Maverick missiles. The U.S. Army, Navy, and Marine Corps plan to buy thousands of JAGMs.
An air-launched ballistic missile (ALBM) is a ballistic missile launched from an aircraft. An ALBM allows the launch aircraft to stand off at long distances from its target, keeping it well outside the range of defensive weapons like anti-aircraft missiles and interceptor aircraft. Historically, once launched the missile was essentially immune to interception due to a lack of capable anti-ballistic missiles, with those few that did exist being limited to known static positions. This combination of features allowed a strategic bomber to present a credible deterrent second-strike option in an era when improving anti-aircraft defences appeared to be rendering conventional bombers obsolete. However, by the 1990s surface-to-air missile technology had innovated to the point of allowing the interception of such weapons from road mobile systems, albeit at a lower PoK. By the early 21st century capable, dedicated, ABM systems from several nations had been deployed in significant numbers, spurring further innovation in hypersonic glide vehicles to penetrate such systems and keep ballistic missiles capable.
Hypersonic flight is flight through the atmosphere below altitudes of about 90 km at speeds greater than Mach 5, a speed where dissociation of air begins to become significant and high heat loads exist. Speeds over Mach 25 have been achieved below the thermosphere as of 2020.
Conventional Prompt Strike (CPS), formerly called Prompt Global Strike (PGS), is a United States military effort to develop a system that can deliver a precision-guided conventional weapon strike anywhere in the world within one hour, in a similar manner to a nuclear ICBM. Such a weapon would allow the United States to respond far more swiftly to rapidly emerging threats than is possible with conventional forces. A CPS system could also be useful during a nuclear conflict, potentially replacing the use of nuclear weapons against up to 30% of targets. The CPS program encompasses numerous established and emerging technologies, including conventional surface-launched missiles and air- and submarine-launched hypersonic missiles, although no specific CPS system has yet been finalized as of 2018.
The AGM-158C LRASM is a stealth air launch anti-ship cruise missile developed for the United States Air Force and United States Navy by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). Derived from the AGM-158B JASSM-ER, the LRASM was intended to pioneer more sophisticated autonomous targeting capabilities than the U.S. Navy's current Harpoon anti-ship missile, which has been in service since 1977.
Hypersonic Technology Vehicle 2 (HTV-2) is an experimental hypersonic glide vehicle developed as part of the DARPA Falcon Project designed to fly in the Mach 20 range. It is a test bed for technologies to provide the United States with the capability to reach any target in the world within one hour using an unmanned hypersonic bomber aircraft.
A hypersonic glide vehicle (HGV) is a type of warhead for ballistic missiles that can maneuver and glide at hypersonic speed. It is used in conjunction with ballistic missiles to significantly change their trajectories after launch. The concept of HGVs is similar to MaRVs, but HGVs are separated from their rocket boosters shortly after launch as opposed to MaRVs which can only maneuver just before the impact. Conventional ballistic missiles follow a predictable ballistic trajectory and are vulnerable to interception by the latest anti-ballistic missile (ABM) systems. The in-flight maneuverability of HGVs makes them unpredictable, allowing them to effectively evade air defenses. As of 2022, hypersonic glide vehicles are the subject of an arms race.
Non-ballistic atmospheric entry is a class of atmospheric entry trajectories that follow a non-ballistic trajectory by employing aerodynamic lift in the high upper atmosphere. It includes trajectories such as skip and glide.
The Avangard is a Russian hypersonic glide vehicle (HGV) that can be carried as an MIRV payload by the UR-100UTTKh, R-36M2 and RS-28 Sarmat heavy ICBMs. It can deliver both nuclear and conventional payloads. The Avangard is reportedly capable of travelling at re-entry speeds.
A hypersonic weapon is a weapon capable of travelling at hypersonic speed, defined as between 5 and 25 times the speed of sound or about 1 to 5 miles per second.
The AGM-183 ARRW is a hypersonic air-to-ground ballistic missile planned for use by the United States Air Force. Developed by Lockheed Martin, the boost-glide vehicle is propelled to a maximum speed of more than Mach 5 by a rocket motor before gliding toward its target. The program was cancelled in March 2023 after multiple failed tests. The program, however, continued despite the cancellation and was announced to still be in development following additional, undisclosed testing.
The Long-Range Hypersonic Weapon (LRHW) is a medium-range surface-to-surface hypersonic weapon being developed for use by the United States Army. The United States Navy intends to procure a ship/submarine-launched variant of the missile as part of the service's Intermediate-Range Conventional Prompt Strike (IRCPS) program. The weapon consists of a large rocket booster that carries the unpowered Common-Hypersonic Glide Body (C-HGB) in a nose cone. Once the booster reaches significant altitude and speed, it releases the C-HGB, which glides at hypersonic speeds as it descends towards its target. Dynetics will build the hypersonic glide vehicle while Lockheed Martin will build the booster as well as assemble the missile and launch equipment.
The Hypersonic Air-breathing Weapon Concept is a scramjet powered hypersonic air-launched cruise missile project at the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), that had a successful hypersonic flight announced in September 2021. It is a kinetic energy weapon, without an explosive warhead.
The Hypersonic Attack Cruise Missile (HACM) is a scramjet-powered hypersonic air-launched cruise missile project, the successor of the Hypersonic Air-breathing Weapon Concept (HAWC) and the SCIFiRE hypersonic programs.
The Mako Multi-Mission Hypersonic Missile is a stand-off hypersonic missile developed by Lockheed Martin and CoAspire, specifically designed to fit in the internal weapons bay of the F-35A and F-35C. It is the first hypersonic weapon compatible with a fifth-generation fighter. The missile was unveiled in April 2024 at the Navy League’s Sea Air Space exposition in Maryland, with Lockheed Martin pitching it to both the U.S. Navy and Air Force. It has also been considered for deployment on submarines and surface warships.
