U.S. Military Eyes Fielding “Prompt Global Strike” Weapon by 2015
Air Force Gen. Kevin Chilton, who heads U.S. Strategic Command in Omaha, Neb., said recently that deploying the first “prompt global strike” weapon within the next five to six years would be a “reasonable” objective, defense officials have told Capitol Hill staff aides.
Last August, the general said he wanted to see a first such missile on alert, with two spares, before the end of 2012 (see GSN, Sept. 3, 2008).
Now expected perhaps up to three years later, the exotic technology would likely be deployed at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., according to sources. Its use would probably be limited to only the most time-critical and important targets outside the range of any other fielded military systems, such as bomber aircraft or ships, senior officials have said.
Despite the top-level priority on deployment, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has repeatedly delayed conducting a first flight test of technologies slated for the first prompt global strike weapon system, the Air Force’s “Conventional Strike Missile.” The schedule slips have occurred for a variety of reasons, most recently DARPA lapses in test planning, according to sources.