Navy Conducting Wind Tunnel Tests Of Reentry Shapes As Part Of Sub-Launched Strike Study
Posted: Jul. 20, 2012
As the Pentagon considers developing a submarine-launched conventional prompt global strike capability, the Navy is conducting wind tunnel testing on reentry body shapes and holding discussions to ensure the Virginia-class payload module doesn't preclude related future capabilities, a senior service official said today. Speaking in Washington at an Air Force Association event, the Navy's Strategic Systems Program office Director Rear Adm. Terry Benedict said his office is serving as a technical consultant for the Navy's submarines program executive office in the Virginia-class payload module work. "The discussions that we are in with [Rear Adm. David Johnson] in PEO submarines, as they look at the architecture for that module, is as technical consultants to ensure that they don't preclude any future capability if leadership were to desire to do so," he said during the event. "We are not in a design phase today with Adm. Johnson designing a CPGS fire control subsystem for that module."
In a short interview following the event, Benedict said his office is also supporting the Defense Department's efforts to look into a submarine-launched capability by "looking at technology applicable to both the Navy, the Army and the Air Force." This technology consists of wind tunnel testing on specific reentry body shapes, he said. The Pentagon's fiscal year 2013 defense budget plan calls for the design of a new submarine-launched conventional prompt strike option as part of its effort to increase or protect investments "in capabilities that preserve the U.S. military's ability to project power in contested areas and strike quickly from over the horizon," according to a DOD white paper released in January. According to a Congressional Research Service report released this month on CPGS, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta provided a briefing that linked this sub-launched effort with "a program to provide the Virginia-class attack submarines with the capability to carry more conventional cruise missiles." The July 6 report also notes that the Pentagon has not yet decided whether it will deploy a prompt global strike system on land or at sea. DOD "has left open the option of deploying the systems at sea, so that as it develops both the booster and the hypersonic glider technologies, it can pursue technologies that will reduce the cost and risk of the program even if they come with a reduced range," the report states.
Benedict threw his support behind a sub-launched capability for the conventional prompt global strike program, which aims to strike worldwide targets in under an hour without using nuclear weapons. "I continue to believe that the submarine does offer a strong capability potential in conventional prompt global strike," he said. Lawmakers have been opposed to efforts to modify the conventional Trident missile to be a sea-based option, citing concerns that other countries could confuse the system for a nuclear weapon. The Pentagon is working on this ambiguity concern, Benedict said, noting there are still individuals requesting additional data to assuage these worries. "If we were asked to go forward with concepts, we would ensure that whatever we came up with and proposed would be significantly different from a Trident signature," he said in the interview, echoing prior comments by Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Martin Dempsey. During the event, Benedict also talked about how his office is aggressively pursuing collaboration efforts with the Air Force and implementing resource and component commonality where appropriate. Last week, Benedict's technical director met with his Air Force counterpart to discuss what a collaborative structure between the Navy and Air Force would look like. "This structure will provide a single framework for our efforts to ensure we share the same language, maximize limited resources and break down any unintended barriers that may be caused by unique service cultures and structures," he said.
Benedict said this effort comes with a number of benefits, and noted that one day it could potentially lead to a joint strategic ballistic missile program. But he noted there are also risks. If the Pentagon were to have a common guidance system, a common motor or common missile that had a problem, it could create systems engineering issues that could affect the entire U.S. strategic nuclear deterrence effort, according to Benedict. In comparison, system failure today would only affect a sub-population of ICBMs or SLBMs.
The Navy and the Air Force are working to "break down the service organizational boundaries or hurdles that sometimes exist so that we can have the true worthwhile discussions technically before we were to offer up any programmatic options," he said. "And I think we're making great progress along those lines." -- Jordana Mishory
