Army's Rapid Tech Office Set To Deliver Initial Hypersonics Capability In FY '23, 50KW Laser Weapon In FY '22

摘要

The Army’s retooled rapid capabilities office has received approval to move ahead with its programs to deliver an initial combat capability for a hypersonic weapon in fiscal year 2023, with plans to announce a prototype award in August, and a Stryker-mounted 50 kilowatt laser by late 2022. Lt. Gen. Neil Thurgood, director of Hypersonics, Directed Energy, Space and Rapid Acquisition, told reporters Tuesday his office has finalized a path forward to move the Army’s signature hypersonics and directed energy programs into experimental prototyping and eventually deliver a single set of capability to units to inform leadership’s decision on setting programs of record. “Building a small set, a prototype set, that has capability allows us to do those things without committing to a large program of record that perhaps later doesn’t really do what we want it to do,” Thurgood said. “When I say experimental prototyping with a residual combat capability, it means we build the battery and then that unit will get a combat capability. The Army Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office (RCCTO), which received an updated charter last December along with the name change, is tasked with fielding one battery of a Long Range Hypersonic Weapon capability that consists of four vehicles each outfitted with two missiles, according to Thurgood.