A U.S Army Soldier lifts the hydraulic launching system on the new Long-Range Hypersonic Weapon (LRHW) during Operation Thunderbolt Strike at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida, March 3, 2023. During the LRHW system development, the Army’s Rapid Capabilities & Critical Technologies Office (RCCTO) implemented a Soldier-centered design concept which uses formal and informal Soldier touch points to obtain early feedback to influence design, speed up development, and ensure an operationally effective weapon system.
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U.S. Army Soldiers assigned to a multi-domain artillery battery practice operating the new Long-Range Hypersonic Weapon (LRHW) during Thunderbolt Strike at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida, March 3, 2023. In Fall 2021, the multi-domain expert Soldiers received the first prototype hypersonic hardware at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. Chandler Coats)
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U.S. Army Soldiers assigned to a multi-domain artillery battery within USARPAC are recognized by LT. Gen. Rasch of the Army Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office (RCCTO) for their work. The Army worked in close collaboration with private contractors to develop its first hypersonic system—which can travel at speeds of Mach 5 or higher. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. Chandler Coats)
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Army Secretary Christine Wormuth predicted “fiscal year 23 will be the year of long-range precision fires.” at Breaking Defense in 2021.
In February, the 1st Multi-Domain Task Force (1st MDTF) long-range fires battalion, 5th Battalion, 3rd Field Artillery Regiment (5-3 LRFB), deployed the Long-Range Hypersonic Weapon (LRHW) system over 3,100 miles from Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington to Cape Canaveral, Florida during Thunderbolt Strike, a full rehearsal of expeditionary hypersonic launch capabilities.
The deployment exercised critical command and control linkages between U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, U.S. Strategic Command, U.S. Army Pacific, Army Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office (RCCTO), and 1st MDTF.
Soldiers of the 5-3 LRFB conducted training and practice drills with the LRHW system in Cape Canaveral.
“Our Soldiers processed real missions, with real data, in real time, to produce real effects to learn lessons and generate readiness. We’re training the way we will fight, and our Soldiers are ready to deploy and employ this critical capability forward,” said Brig. Gen. Bernard Harrington, the 1st MDTF commander.
Thunderbolt Strike marks a new milestone between the 1st MDTF, RCCTO, industry, and numerous Army partners that generated immediate feedback from stakeholders on the complex system.
Col. Ian Humphrey, RCCTO’s hypersonic weapon integration project manager, highlighted 1st MDTF’s rapid progress in building the technical and procedural capacity to integrate the LRHW system’s capabilities into the Defense Department’s Joint Force. “This unit is fully trained and has proven that they can be deployed away from home station and go right into whatever mission they’re given.”
“Thunderbolt Strike proved the power of interagency cooperation to build the multi-domain force of the future,” said Harrington. “The second half of the Army’s year of long-range precision fires will continue to represent groundbreaking strides toward integrated deterrence in the Pacific.”
“Our first battery of Long-Range Hypersonic Weapons is training with their ground equipment at JBLM, and by this fall we will have our first battery of Long-Range Hypersonic Weapons, and that element will be part of our 1st Multi-Domain Task Force,” Wormuth said recently in an article in Defense Daily.