The US Navy’s Strategic Systems Programs (SSP) office, its industrial partners Lockheed Martin, and Northrop Grumman tested on May 27th the first-stage solid rocket motor (SRM) in Promontory, Utah.
The test is about the navy’s Conventional Prompt Strike (CPS) offensive hypersonic missile and the army’s Long Range Hypersonic Weapon (LRHW).
CPS is a hypersonic boost-glide missile and weapon system that allows long-range flight with ‘high survivability against enemy defences’.
According to Lockheed Martin, CPS and LRHW share a ‘common all up’ round, allowing surface ships, submarines, and land-based, mobile launchers to launch the missile. The rocket motor will be integrated with a Common Hypersonic Glide Body (CHGB) to create the common hypersonic missile.
The common glide body was successfully tested in March 2020. The Army and Navy are now working with government-run national laboratories and industry on development and production. The navy led the glide body design effort, and the army is leading the production effort.
Northrop Grumman developed the rocket motor, and Lockheed Martin served as the prime weapon systems integrator.
According to the statements from companies, during the first-stage solid rocket motor test, “the motor fired for the full trial duration and met performance parameters and objectives within anticipated ranges.”
Hypersonic weapons can fly at greater than five times the speed of sound and put most targets around the globe at risk within minutes.
