Dark Eagle: The United States shows its hypersonic claws on China and Russia

With a thunderous launch, the US military's Dark Eagle hypersonic missile has made up for years of delays, signaling a bold new push in the US race for long-range precision firepower against China and Russia.

This month, The War Zone reported that the U.S. military successfully tested its Dark Eagle hypersonic missile from a trailer-based launcher at the Cape Canaveral space station in Florida. The test marks a milestone after years of delays due to launcher problems.

The test, conducted by the U.S. Army's Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office (RCCTO) and the U.S. Navy's Strategic Systems Programs, involved the Long Range Hypersonic Weapon (LRHW), also known as common All Up Round (AUR) missile.

The report notes that the missile, which the US Navy plans to deploy on Zumwalt-class destroyers and Virginia-class Block V submarines, reached hypersonic speeds in excess of Mach 5.

The War Zone reports that various aircraft, including NASA's WB-57F and the Missile Defense Agency's (MDA) HALO jets, observed the test, demonstrating the missile's ability to reach target ranges at hypersonic speeds.

The report also notes that U.S. Army Secretary Christine Wormuth and U.S. Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro stressed the importance of the test in advancing the U.S. military's hypersonic capabilities.

The report says the successful launch signifies progress toward fielding the Dark Eagle system, with the first full LRHW battery expected by fiscal 2025. It adds that the development of hypersonic weapons is crucial to maintaining superiority American military, particularly in potential conflicts in the Pacific.

As the U.S. military transitions from long-duration counterinsurgency missions in the Middle East to fighting Russia in Europe and China in the Pacific, it faces the daunting task of reinventing itself to meet near-death challenges. equivalents. Capabilities providing long-range precision fires (LRPF), such as LRHW, are essential to this transformation.

The U.S. military's drive to acquire LRPF capabilities, including hypersonic weapons, is driven by the need to counter adversaries like China and Russia, which have developed advanced anti-access/area denial systems (A2/AD). These capabilities enable remote strikes beyond the range of these systems.

In the Pacific, Asia Times reported that the United States was building a missile wall across the Pacific to counter China's growing military power, focusing on LRPFs from land-based missile systems like the Typhoon.

Capable of launching Tomahawk and SM-6 missiles with ranges of 500 to 1,800 kilometers, the Typhoon bridges the gap between the shorter-range precision strike missile (482 kilometers) and the longer-range hypersonic weapon (2 776 kilometers).

The initiative aims to establish a network of missile launch sites in the first island chain, encompassing Japan, Taiwan and the Philippines, to strengthen counter-A2/AD capabilities against China.

However, the project faces significant obstacles, including resistance from allies to hosting American missile systems. While Japan appears most willing to do so, other countries, including the Philippines, Thailand and South Korea, are wary of possible political and economic backlash from China.

Despite these challenges, the United States began stationing Typhoon launchers in the Philippines, albeit under the guise of training exercises, to avoid triggering a regional escalation. This approach reflects a move towards a “lily pad” strategy of rotating and scalable force deployments rather than fixed bases.

Critics say the initiative risks destabilizing the Pacific by provoking a missile arms race with China, whose formidable missile arsenal, including the DF-26 “Guam Killer,” underscores the growing intensity of the strategic rivalry between the United States and China.

In addition to building a missile wall in the Pacific, Asia Times reported this month that the US Navy is transforming the USS Zumwalt, a $4 billion guided-missile destroyer, into a weapons platform hypersonics to counter China's growing naval capabilities.

The ship is equipped with missile tubes to replace its inactive cannon system, allowing it to launch hypersonic glider (PL) vehicles at seven to eight times the speed of sound.

This modernization effort, part of the US Navy's Conventional Prompt Strike (CPS) program developed with the US Army, aims to improve the operational utility of the Zumwalt by enabling rapid and precise strikes at greater ranges.

This initiative reflects the urgent need to respond to the growing threats posed by Chinese Type 055 cruisers and Russian nuclear tactical ships. Despite Zumwalt's advanced technologies, including electric propulsion and stealth design, the class has been criticized for its high costs and potential vulnerabilities.

The US Navy plans to test the hypersonic system aboard the Zumwalt by 2027 or 2028. The move is part of a broader strategy to maintain naval superiority despite delays and cost overruns in other programs .

However, a report from the US Congressional Research Service (CRS) released this month mentions several critical challenges for the United States in the development, production, testing and deployment of hypersonic weapons.

According to the report, technological complexity poses a significant obstacle, as hypersonic systems require advanced materials capable of withstanding extreme temperatures and pressures. Large-scale manufacturing of these advanced materials poses production bottlenecks.

The CRS report states that the precision required for aerodynamic configuration and the integration of guidance, navigation and control systems represent additional complications.

Additionally, he mentions that testing constraints have hampered progress. Hypersonic flight testing is expensive, logistically complex, and limited by the availability of specialized test ranges and facilities. This bottleneck limits the pace of development and the ability to iterate on designs.

Additionally, the CRS report states that these weapons must be integrated into existing military infrastructure, which requires modifications to the storage, handling and delivery system. He points out that delays in these areas have further delayed deployment timelines.

The report also mentions that budgetary and bureaucratic obstacles compounded technical and logistical challenges, as funding approvals and interagency coordination slowed decision-making. Collectively, these factors create an extended timeline for the operational deployment of U.S. hypersonic capabilities.

Unlike the United States, Josh Luckenbaugh mentions in an article published in July 2024 in the National Defense Magazine that China's lead in the development of hypersonic weapons is due to its targeted investments over the last two decades in infrastructure allowing these systems to be developed and tested.

Luckenbaugh highlights China's extensive research and development infrastructure, including numerous wind tunnels dedicated to hypersonic systems. He contrasts this by noting that American facilities and expertise have deteriorated since the Cold War, with most testing capabilities now located in academia.

Although Luckenbaugh mentions that efforts are underway to rebuild this expertise through collaborations between academia and the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD), the United States has yet to field a single hypersonic weapon to date. .

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