| Aviation Week & Space Technology
03/10/2008 , page 19
Congress has made it clear that the submarine-based, conventionally armed Trident missile (CTM) is “a capability they would not like to see deployed,” says USAF Gen. Kevin Chilton, chief of U.S. Strategic Command. On the other hand, “we’re learning more as we continue to develop the technologies we need for prompt global strike that could be land-based.” A new analysis of alternatives is considering a land-based option; a forward-deployed, shorter-range mobile option; a sea-based option; and then a very-high-velocity, air-breathing delivery mechanism, he says. Flight demonstrations with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency are planned for 2011 or beyond. While the larger concept of fielding a sea-based, conventional ICBM is still an option, Congress has rejected the idea of “using the CTM proposal of a mixed [nuclear, conventional] loadout [on submarines],” he says. “That doesn’t slow us down from working on technologies for conventional weapons [that include] high accuracy, and material properties that allow the reentry vehicle to do large cross-range maneuvering.” That way, the RVs “can reach targets without overflying countries that you [don’t want] getting excited.” |
