Here’s an interesting bit from SecDef Llyod Austin’s meeting with more than a dozen hypersonic defense contractors:
During the meeting, multiple CEOs described the need for more wind tunnels to test hypersonic vehicles as a “choke point in testing.” The US only has a handful of hypersonic wind tunnels, according to one CEO, while China has about 12 and “they’re building about one every six months.”
The CEO pointed to an industry-wide “fear of failure” in testing hypersonic weapons, echoing remarks by now-retired Air Force Gen. John Hyten in October. While the US had conducted approximately nine hypersonic tests in roughly the last five years, the Chinese had conducted “hundreds,” according to Hyten.
None of that is encouraging. Certainly DoD, Congress, and the media do not respond well to reports of test failures — such as three straight failed tests of ARRW. Potentially that nervousness, as suggested by the article, is also due to a lack of wind tunnels for gathering data through intermediate-stage testing. Even though defense oversight hates the idea of trial-and-error, that’s seems to be exactly what is needed.
The Air Force in the 1990s petitioned to increase wind tunnel funding for hypersonic missiles, and that was flatly denied. Perhaps that was due to the Cold War drawdown. Perhaps there was no military “requirement” for it. Or perhaps DoD just does a poor job funding enabling technologies like test facilities, new manufacturing techniques, and so forth. #PPBEreform.
As reported a last week, USD R&E Heidi Shyu announced a $5 billion infrastructure shortfall, and plans large increases to that in the FY23 budget. That could take many years to get appropriated, obligated, and executed. The Army organic depots and Navy maintenance shipyards have also been severely underfunded until crisis pops up.
Here’s a little bit more on the lack of test infrastructure, reported by Bloomberg from the non-public version of OT&E’s annual report:
The Pentagon doesn’t have enough wide-open spaces on its missile test ranges to thoroughly evaluate new hypersonic weapons for the U.S., according to the military’s testing office.
… Existing U.S. test ranges from Hawaii to Virginia that have corridors clear of civilians and commercial air traffic will be overwhelmed by an increase of more than 50% in demand by 2025 unless they’re expanded…
As an example, the testing report found that with “minor” upgrades, “an East Coast flight-test corridor at Wallops, with impact in the broad ocean area and Eglin, with launch and impact in the Gulf of Mexico, could also mitigate the flight test corridor shortfall.”
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