"If this is the case, it seems that you don't need to tell me alone.

Just let us know, you are so solemn, I suspect there may be other purposes.

Is there something I don’t know? "Lin Rui looked at Nelson and asked.

"Well, it seems that I can't hide anything from you. The two B-52 stratofortresses are loaded with live ammunition." Nelson replied.

"Isn't there no live ammunition throwing? Why is there live ammunition on the bomber?" Lin Rui frowned.

"Promotional effect, or what other **** purpose is it, this has to be asked." Nelson said quietly.

"Maybe it's to show the muscles, you know, isn't this the purpose of exercises?

The Russians landed large bombers in Africa last year. So the above thought that we must respond, and we were even better. The bombers were full of new bombs.

Use these to respond. Then those big shots thought they had overwhelmed the other side, and were complacent. "

"Sounds like what you Yankees did." Lin Rui smiled. "New bomb?"

Nelson sighed, "I shouldn't have said it, but at most two days later, these news will appear in the newspaper.

That's right, the new bomb. Strictly speaking, it should be a missile.

The AGM-183A missile, but using rocket-assisted glider technology, uses solid-assisted rockets to accelerate the projectile,

After reaching a certain speed, the head fairing of the projectile opens the inner glider to accelerate the flight, and it will not go out of the atmosphere at all times.

The fastest speed can reach Mach 20, and the maximum range can reach 1,600 kilometers. The U.S. Air Force hopes that the B-52H bomber can use this extremely capable missile to strike the enemy's deep, high-value targets and time-sensitive targets. "

"AGM-183A missile? The latest hypersonic weapon developed by Lockheed Martin, the Pentagon's top supplier?" Lin Rui frowned.

Nelson said unexpectedly, "You know?"

"It's not a secret. At a military meeting last year, I heard Lockheed Martin's introduction." Lin Rui nodded.

"At that time, under the explanation of the ROC personnel, this hypersonic weapon could provide the U.S. Air Force with a faster strike speed.

And has a powerful improvement in the strike distance, and its missile's flexibility and accuracy have also been significantly improved. I thought it was bragging. "

Nelson nodded, "Actually, it was also influenced by the Russians. You know large weapons other than the atomic bomb.

Hypersonic weapons have also led many military powers to carry out a lot of research.

After Russia’s hypersonic weapons were made public internationally, it caused waves of speech after another. It can be seen that hypersonic weapons have a very irreplaceable strategic role today.

After Russia conducted very early research on hypersonic weapons, we have also taken a new step towards this weapon.

AGM-183A was originally a short and fast project. It was a direct response to the fact that the United States found itself lagging behind China and Russia in terms of hypersonic weapons.

The United States temporarily put aside the air-breathing stamping technology route it had been developing, and instead used the relatively easy glider technology route to develop a usable first-equipment force. "

Lin Rui frowned, "I heard that this weapon has not been going well."

Nelson smiled and shook his head, "You are right. But it may be too tight, or it may be because the U.S. Air Force is trying to keep ahead of the U.S. Navy and Army.

First of all, the reason for the achievement of the first hypersonic weapon equipped with troops in the United States. The test firing process of AGM-183A has not been smooth.

The first test launch was at the end of December 2020, when Will Roper, Assistant Secretary of Acquisition, Technology and Logistics of the U.S. Air Force,

It is predicted that the AGM-183 air-launched rapid response weapon ARRW will fly before the end of 2020.

However, a failure occurred during the test and the test was forced to be cancelled. The US military's plan to conduct a test firing before 2021 fell through.

Afterwards, it was reported that the missile failed during the AGM-183A air-launched rapid reaction weapon ARRW test flight at the end of December 2020. The U.S. military was forced to cancel the test and attributed it to a stupid mistake;

A source reported that a technician did not follow the checklist, and another source reported that the control surface was incorrectly fixed.

The second test launch was also forced to be cancelled at the beginning of 2021. The specific circumstances are unknown.

The US Air Force stated that another failed test attempt earlier this year was a small bump in the road. This problem was resolved within 30 days of the efforts of a joint government and industry team. "

The U.S. military’s third and first test flight took place on April 5, 2021. At that time, the U.S. Air Force tried to launch the AGM-183A air-launched rapid-reaction weapon ARRW.

But the missile did not disengage from the pylon of the B-52H bomber.

Brigadier General Heath A. Collins, Secretary of the Weapons Department, said at the time that the inability to complete the launch sequence of the missiles was disappointing, but the test provided useful data. "

Lin Rui couldn't help but want to laugh, "Are you serious?"

Nelson shrugged. "Laugh as you want. This thing has become a laughing stock anyway. The most recent one was a few months ago.

In terms of time, this time, I was talking about it, and I entered the test session on time. However, the nose cone of the AGM-183A in this test fire is not a real glider, but a fragile substitute that will disintegrate after release.

During the test, the missile was indeed successfully separated from the pylon, but then the missile failed to ignite, and the test aircraft plunged into the Pacific Ocean from a high altitude.

The specific reason for the failure. We have to wait for someone to get the missile up, but the booster rocket engine used by AGM183A is indeed a very mature technology.

The missile does not require acceleration to a particularly high speed, but only provides an initial speed. It stands to reason that this should not be a problem for Lockheed Martin.

Maybe it was multiple failures and wanted to save face.

Therefore, letting the two B-52s fly with bombs is probably to create a topic and overwhelm the Russians. "

"So these two strategic bombers carry two unreliable supersonic missiles.

Come here purely to create a topic, but fortunately, in Africa, do you overwhelm the Russians? "Lin Rui frowned.

"The above is probably such an idea, apart from that, I can't think of anything else useful." Nelson said helplessly.

"It seems that we are really in trouble. We have been involved in this kind of thing." Lin Rui shook his head and said, "Moreover, after being threatened by a terrorist attack, there was such an extra trouble."

"Who said no, but they should have only been in Djibouti for a while, cooperating with the speculation news." Nelson smiled, "maybe it won't be too much trouble."

"When will they arrive? I have to find a way to prepare in advance." Lin Rui nodded.

"The day after tomorrow. At least the plan is." Nelson replied.