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Conventional Prompt Strike (CPS), formerly calledPrompt Global Strike (PGS), is aUnited States military effort to develop a system that can deliver aprecision-guidedconventional weapon strike anywhere in the world within one hour, in a similar manner to anuclearICBM.[1][2] Such a weapon would allow the United States to respond far more swiftly to rapidly emerging threats than is possible with conventional forces. A CPS system could also be useful during anuclear conflict, potentially replacing the use of nuclear weapons against up to 30% of targets.[3] The CPS program encompasses numerous established and emerging technologies, including conventional surface-launchedmissiles and air- and submarine-launchedhypersonic missiles.
The CPS system is intended to complement existing American rapid-response forces, such asForward Deployed Forces,Air Expeditionary Groups (which can deploy within 48 hours) andcarrier battle groups (which can respond within 96 hours).[4]Possible delivery systems for CPS warheads include:
In 2010, theUnited States Air Force prototyped a CPS system based on a modifiedMinuteman III ICBM.[5] In March 2011, Air ForceMajor General David Scott stated that the service had no plans to use a sea- or land-based ICBM system for Prompt Global Strike, as they would be expensive to develop and potentially "dangerous". Instead, efforts would focus on ahypersonic glider.[6] However, the following day,Chief of Staff of the United States Air ForceNorton Schwartz said that an ICBM-based CPS system was still an option.[7]
TheGeorge W. Bush administration considered developing a hypersonic conventional weapon for a CPS role in the 2000s, in the form ofDARPA'sFalcon Project.[8] Aconventionally-armed modification of theTridentSLBM was also proposed as a CPS candidate in 2006.[9] The Bush administration ultimately rejected the idea of a CPS system because of fears that a submarine-launched ballistic missile would trigger the Russian nuclear-launch warning system, potentially provoking anuclear war.[10] However, theObama administration continued development of the system later in the decade. In April 2010,Marine Corps GeneralJames Cartwright explained the system's rationale, stating that "Today, unless you want to go nuclear, [the conventional military response time is] measured in days, maybe weeks".[5]
A potential enemy cannot be certain that a launched ICBM contains only a conventional warhead, not a nuclear one. It is thus currently unclear what design features or precautions could convince China and Russia, two countries with advanced launch-detection systems and nuclear ICBMs, to ignore their early-warning systems. Current ideas include a low-trajectory missile design, or allowing Russian and Chinese inspection of CPS missile sites.[4][5]
On 11 April 2010,United States Secretary of DefenseRobert Gates indicated that the United States already had a Prompt Global Strike capability.[11] This coincided with theNew START disarmament treaty signed on 8 April 2010, which set new, lower limits on arsenals of ballistic missiles and their warheads. The treaty does not distinguish between conventional and nuclear versions of weapons, meaning any ballistic CPS missiles and warheads would count toward the new limit. However, theU.S. State Department stated in 2010 that this would not constrain plans for CPS deployment, since plans for the system at that time did not come near the New START limits.[12]
In 2024,Zumwalt-class destroyers were reported to be undergoing refits to carry hypersonic CPS.[13]
On 18 November 2011, the first advancedhypersonic weapon (AHW) glide vehicle was successfully tested by theU.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command as part of the Prompt Global Strike program.[citation needed] The missile was launched from thePacific Missile Range Facility in Hawaii, and struck a target at theReagan Test Site onKwajalein Atoll, over 3,700 kilometres (2,300 mi) away, in under 30 minutes.[14] The prototype, which incorporated technologies developed bySandia National Laboratories, was used to gather data to assist the development of future hypersonic warheads.[15] The AHW followed an endo-atmospheric (within earth atmosphere, at altitude below 100 kilometers) non-ballistic trajectory during the test flight. This is a crucial design feature, as following a depressed trajectory that is much lower and flatter than a normal ICBM prevents other nuclear-armed nations from mistakenly thinking the AHW is a nuclear-tipped missile.[16][clarification needed]
The second AHW test flight occurred on 25 August 2014 from theKodiak Launch Complex in Alaska. The mission was terminated shortly after liftoff due to an anomaly in the launch vehicle. Operators triggered a self-destruct sequence four seconds after launching, with eyewitnesses claiming the weapon had veered offtrajectory just as it took off.[17] A Failure Review Board released the results of their investigation into the failed launch in early February 2015. The board determined that an external thermal protective cover, designed to regulate motor temperature, interfered with the launch vehicle's steering assembly; no issues were found with the hypersonic glide body, booster motors, or the Kodiak Launch Complex, and the board determined the test range flight safety officer correctly followed established protocol and procedures.[18]
TheHTV-2 Falcon, a project to develop an experimentalhypersonic glide vehicle, staged a pair of test flights.[citation needed]
In January 2012,the Pentagon stated that the CPS launch platform would be submarine-based.[19] However, practical efforts to develop the CPS system were delayed by fears of accidentally starting a nuclear conflict.[19] In February 2014, theU.S. Navy solicited proposals for two-year industry trade studies to test the feasibility of developing a hypersonic submarine-launched intermediate-range conventional CPS weapon. The Navy specified that the effort was a study to evaluate technology options, not to develop a system-level specific CPS solution. The Navy stated that it would be interested in awarding one or two 13-month technology evaluation contracts, each worth around US$5 million.[20]
The Conventional Prompt Strike successfully tested a rocket motor for ship and submarine-launched cells in June 2021.[21]: 1:35 to 6:50 The Army/NavyCommon-Hypersonic Glide Body was successfully tested in 2020.[21] The U.S. Navy awarded Lockheed Martin a contract to integrate the Conventional Prompt Strike weapon system onto theZumwalt-class destroyer in February 2023.[22]
ThePeople's Liberation Army (PLA) began developing a long-range hypersonic missile, theDF-ZF rocket-boostedhypersonic glide vehicle, in the 2010s.[23] Seven flight tests[24] — with one failure[25] — were conducted from January 2014[25] through 2016.[24] It likely entered service by October 2019.[26]
In December 2010, Russian military experts indicated that the forthcomingS-500missile defense system would include anti-hypersonic defenses.[27] In December 2012, commenting on the development of a replacement for itsR-36M2 Voevoda ICBM, the commander of the RussianStrategic Missile Forces, Sergey Karakaev, stated that the missile would allow Russia "to realize such opportunities as the creation of high precision strategic weapons with non-nuclear warheads and a practical global range. Russia can create non-nuclear, high precision weapons based on intercontinental rockets in the event that the USA also works on designing such a weapon". On 11 December 2013, Vice Prime MinisterDmitry Rogozin warned that Russia would use nuclear weapons if it came under an attack, adding that this possibility serves as the main deterrent to potential aggressors. Rogozin also stated that theRussian Foundation for Advanced Research Projects in the Defense Industry (FPI) would develop a military response to the CPS system.[28]
In September 2014, Russia's presidentVladimir Putin mentioned CPS among a number of the new threats Russia faced, along with the USGround-Based Midcourse Defense system in Alaska, theAegis Ballistic Missile Defense System in Europe, and increasedNATO activity in eastern Europe. Deputy prime ministerDmitry Rogozin again warned that Russia would upgrade its strategic nuclear forces and aerospace defences in response to the CPS system.[29]
Jane's Intelligence Review reported in 2015 that the RussianYu-71hypersonicboost-glide system had been undergoing test flights since 2011, though its predecessors date back to 2001.[citation needed]
In October 2015, while attending a non-proliferation conference in New York, theRussian Foreign Ministry's Department of Non-proliferation, Disarmament, and Arms ControlMikhail Ivanovich Ulyanov stated "[It] is the US policy that hinders further nuclear reductions [including through] gradual advancement towards implementing the “prompt global strike” concept"[30]
In March 2018, theAvangard hypersonic weapon system, a development of the Yu-71/Yu-74, entered series production.[31][32][33]
And we have prompt global strike affording us some conventional alternatives on long-range missiles that we didn't have before