Saturday, February 1, 2014

Pentagon Concerned By China’s New High-Speed Missile

Pentagon Concerned By China’s New High-Speed Missile
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http://www.prophecynewswatch.com/2014/January31/316.html

Frank Kendall, the Undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology, and logistics, said during a House Armed Services Committee hearing that he is concerned by large-scale cuts in U.S. defense spending that are undermining efforts to maintain U.S. military superiority.

“On hypersonics, this is a good example of an area of technology that is going to move forward whether we invest in it or not,” Kendall told a hearing on the United States shift toward Asia. “China is doing work in this area.”

The Pentagon is investing some resources in two forms of hypersonic arms: a ballistic missile boost glide vehicle and a jet powered, atmospheric cruise missile, he said, adding that the threat of such hypersonic vehicles to the United States is that they are difficult for missile defenses to counter. The vehicles travel and maneuver while flying at speeds of up to Mach 10 or 7,680 miles an hour.

“The high speed of these systems makes it much more difficult for air defenses to engage.”

“When I spoke earlier about feeling reasonably comfortable where we are today [with arms technology] but not necessarily so comfortable five or 10 years from not, this is one of the technologies that would be on that list of things that in five or 10 years we might have a much bigger problem with then,” Kendall said.

The comments followed questioning from Rep. Trent Franks (R., Ariz.), who said he shares the concerns about the Chinese hypersonic glide vehicle development and testing.

“My purpose here is to try to elevate that concern because I think it is a significant one, especially since given time, it will manifest,” Franks said.

The Washington Free Beacon first reported China’s flight test of a hypersonic glide vehicle that the Pentagon has called the WU-14. U.S. officials said that, while the glide vehicle test was not an intelligence surprise, it showed China is moving much more rapidly than in the past in efforts to research, develop, and test advanced weaponry.

Adm. Samuel Locklear, commander of the U.S. Pacific Command, noted that the hypersonic test demonstrated China’s ability to move quicker than the United States in developing some advanced arms. “The Chinese, as other nations are, are pursuing hypersonic technologies,” Locklear said last week at the Pentagon. “This is just one of many, you know, highly technical militarized systems that whether the Chinese are developing them, or we’re developing them, or Europeans are developing, that will continue to complicate the security environment with high-technology systems.”

“We will have to figure them into the calculation of how we’re going to maintain a peaceful security environment in the future,” he added.

“The Asia Pacific is fast becoming a powder keg,” Rep. Buck McKeon (R., Calif.) said. “Allowing nations that do not share our respect for free and open avenues of commerce to gain a strategic advantage over the United States and her allies only brings us closer to lighting the fuse.”

China is expected to field a new fight-generation jet fighter, the J-20, in the next few years and also could export the aircraft to other states, experts say. At the same time, the U.S. military is being cut sharply, undermining both high-technology weapons development.

“China’s pursuing a long-term comprehensive military modernization program focused on anti-access/area denial capabilities,” Frank Kendall said. “Today our investments, on the other hand, are being limited by budget cuts that fall disproportionately on modernization, research and development and procurement.”

“The size of the immediate reductions we are experiencing is bad enough. Uncertainty about future budget reductions make sizing our force problematic and encourages a slower drawdown in our force structure. This in turn causes even larger reductions in modernization.”

Kendall also said that until military forces are reduced to sustainable levels, “we will be forced to disproportionately reduce modernization, the very investments that provide with technological superiority in the Asia-Pacific region and elsewhere.”

Last year, the Pentagon spent around $65 million on hypersonic weapons research and development in its Prompt Global Strike program. The figure included a cut of $66 million from earlier proposed spending. Another $45 million was allocated to the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency for hypersonic work.

Kendall concluded by saying that he is “very comfortable” with U.S. weapons capabilities today.

“I’m not sure we will say that in five or 10 years down the road,” he said.

(H/T: Free Beacon)

Read more at http://www.prophecynewswatch.com/2014/January31/316.html#wOBKQvEfkDusmVIp.99

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