Army Awards Hypersonic Weapon System Contracts

REDSTONE ARSENAL, Ala.  — The U.S. Army awarded two contracts this week as it advances the fielding of a prototype hypersonic weapon by fiscal 2023, the U.S. Army said in an Aug. 30 release.

The Army Long-Range Hypersonic Weapon (LRHW) will
introduce a new class of ultrafast, maneuverable, long-range missiles that will
launch from mobile ground platforms.

“Delivering hypersonics to a unit of action will provide
a critical combat capability for the Army in support of the National Defense
Strategy,” said LTG L. Neil Thurgood, director of Hypersonics, Directed Energy,
Space and Rapid Acquisition. “With a collaborative effort by our partners in
industry and the Department of Defense, we will advance this strategic weapon
system and fulfill a critical mission for our nation.”

Hypersonic weapons are capable of flying at five times
the speed of sound and operate at varying altitudes, making them unique from
other missiles with a ballistic trajectory.

In March 2019, the secretary and chief of staff of the
Army directed the accelerated delivery of a prototype ground-launched
hypersonic weapon with residual combat capability by fiscal 2023. To execute
this strategy, the Army Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office
(RCCTO) has selected two prime contractors to build and integrate components of
the LRHW prototype.

On August 29, the Army awarded an Other Transaction
Authority (OTA) agreement to Dynetics in the amount of $351.6 million to
produce the first commercially manufactured set of prototype Common-Hypersonic
Glide Body (C-HGB) systems.

Also on August 29, the Army awarded a second OTA
agreement to Lockheed Martin in the amount of $347.0 million as the LRHW
prototype system integrator.

The Army RCCTO is responsible for delivering the prototype LRHW battery, consisting of four trucks with launchers, hypersonic missile rounds and a command and control system. The OTA awards support the design, integration and production work that enables a series of flight tests beginning next year, leading to fielding in fiscal 2023.

In developing the LRHW, the Army is working in close
collaboration with the other services through a Joint Service Memorandum of
Agreement on hypersonics design, development, testing and production. As part
of the agreement, the Army will execute production of the C-HGB for all
services, while the Navy will lead the glide body design beginning in fiscal 2020.
This joint cooperation allows the services to leverage technologies, while
tailoring them to meet specific air, land and sea requirements.

The two contract awards mark an important step in
transitioning the development of Army hypersonic capabilities out of the
government laboratories and into commercial production. Initially, Dynetics
will work with Sandia National Laboratories to learn building of the glide
body.

Additional future awards are expected in order to
increase production of the C-HGB and to establish an industrial base for
hypersonics within the United States. Vendors selected for these subsequent
awards would also work with Sandia National Laboratories to learn production of
the C-HGB.

“Hypersonics is not a new technology – it’s a new
application of technology, with a new sense of urgency,” said Bob Strider,
deputy director of the Army Hypersonic Project Office, part of the RCCTO. “This
prototyping effort will leverage the great work of the government science and
technology community to take these systems to the next level and create an
industrial base going forward.”

The Army RCCTO, headquartered at Redstone Arsenal, Ala.,
is chartered to develop rapid prototypes and field residual combat
capabilities.