https://crsreports.congress.gov
Updated May 23, 2022
The U.S. Army’s Long-Range Hypersonic Weapon (LRHW)
What Is the Army’s Long-Range
Hypersonic Weapon?
The Army’s Long-Range Hypersonic Weapon (LRHW)
(Figure 1), with a reported range of 1,725 miles, consists of
a ground-launched missile equipped with a hypersonic glide
body and associated transport, support, and fire control
equipment. According to the Army:
This land-based, truck-launched system is armed
with hypersonic missiles that can travel well over
3,800 miles per hour. They can reach the top of the
Earth’s atmosphere and remain just beyond the
range of air and missile defense systems until they
are ready to strike, and by then it’s too late to react.
Extremely accurate, ultrafast, maneuverable and
survivable, hypersonics can strike anywhere in the
world within minutes. For the battery, the task force
and the U.S. Army, they provide a critical strategic
weapon and a powerful deterrent against adversary
capabilities.
Figure 1. Artist Rendition of a Notional LRHW Unit
Source: https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/weapons/
a36421213/army-hypersonic-weapon-1700-mile-range/, accessed
November 18, 2021.
The Army further notes:
The Long Range Hypersonic Weapon (LRHW)
system will provide the Army a prototype strategic
attack weapon system to defeat Anti-Access/Area
Denial (A2/AD) capabilities, suppress adversary
long range fires, and engage other high payoff/time
critical targets. The Army is working closely with
the Navy in the development of the LRHW. LRHW
is common with the Common Hypersonic Glide
Body (C-HGB), and the Navy 34.5 inch booster.
Additionally, the LRHW is to use an existing
command and control (C2) network, the Advanced
Field Artillery Tactical Data System (AFATDS).
LRHW Components
Missile
The missile component of the LRHW is reportedly being
developed by Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman.
When the hypersonic glide body is attached, it is referred to
as the Navy-Army All Up Round plus Canister (AUR+C).
The missile component is to serve as the common two-stage
booster for the Army’s LRHW and the Navy’s
Conventional Prompt Strike (CPS) system, which is
intended to be fired from both surface vessels and
submarines.
What Is Anti-Access/Area Denial (A2/AD)?
A Department of Defense (DOD) term used to describe
“Chinese and Russian approaches that seek to prevent U.S.
forces from gaining or using access to overseas bases or
critical locations, such as ports and airfields, while denying U.S.
forces the ability to maneuver within striking distance of their
territory. Collectively, these actions could significantly
constrain U.S. military interventions or raise their costs.”
Source: Chris Dougherty, “Moving Beyond A2/AD,” Center for
a New American Security, December 3, 2020.
Common Hypersonic Glide Body (C-HGB)
The C-HGB is reportedly based on the Alternate Re-Entry
System previously developed by the Sandia National
Laboratories and the U.S. Army. Dynetics, a subsidiary of
Leidos, is currently under contract to produce C-HGB
prototypes for the Army, Navy, and the Missile Defense
Agency. The C-HGB “uses a booster rocket motor to
accelerate to well-above hypersonic speeds, and then
jettisons the expended rocket booster.” According to
Dynetics, the C-HGB is to be maneuverable, making it
more difficult to detect and intercept and “can travel at
Mach 5 or higher ... at least five times faster than the speed
of sound or up to 13,000 miles per hour.” The C-HGB is
intended to be able to destroy targets by virtue of its
velocity alone.
LRHW Organization and Units
The LRHW is to be organized into batteries—a designation
given to company-sized units of field and air defense
artillery. Initially, each battery reportedly is to have four
launchers, each with two missiles, a mobile battery
operations center, and a number of support vehicles such as
the Army’s currently deployed Heavy Expanded Mobility
Tactical Truck (HEMTT) to transport the LRHWs.
Reportedly, the 5
th
Battalion, 3
rd
Field Artillery Regiment at
Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington, is to operate the
first battery of eight LRHW missiles. The battalion, also
