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By authorizing and funding the SLCM-N, Congress took a very important step toward bolstering nuclear deterrence in an increasingly dangerous world. But it must now pay attention to how the Department of Defense executes its decision in the coming years. During the Cold War, both the United States and the Soviet Union experimented further with the concept, of deploying early cruise missiles from land, submarines, and aircraft. The main outcome of the United States Navy submarine missile project was the SSM-N-8 Regulus missile, based upon the V-1. Drawing inspiration from adversaries, particularly Russia, which adeptly engages and depletes sophisticated surface-to-air missile (SAM) systems, the US seeks to emulate and acquire a similar capability. The prospect of employing a swarm of economical yet precise cruise missiles holds strategic significance, not only against Russia but also in the western Pacific concerning China.
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The envisioned end product aims for affordability, mass production feasibility, and suitability for deployment by US allies, indicating a strategic focus on partner nations across Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. Jaime Engdahl, Director, Advanced Weapon Strategy for Northrop Grumman, observed that the Gray Wolf spiral one design is frequently used as an example of the Air Force weapon digital transformation effort and broader digital campaign. Congress and the Department of Defense must now work together to see the project through to completion.
High Explosive
The ERV flew in August 1979, and was declared the winner of the head-to-head fly-off against the SLCM in March 1980. An ICBM with an average of 3,600kg HE payload would create an explosive damage radius of up to 1.47km. An IRBM with an average of 1,454kg HE payload would create an explosive damage radius of up to 1.99km. A MRBM with an average of 1,080kg HE payload would create an explosive damage radius of up to 1.33km. A SRBM with an average of 540kg HE payload would create an explosive damage radius of up to 1.06km. A CM with an average of 561kg HE payload would create an explosive damage radius of up to 1.07km.
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Recognizing the need for a paradigm shift, the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) has unveiled a groundbreaking initiative through the AFWERX military innovation center – the Weapons Program Executive (PEO) Design and Sprint Challenge. This venture places emphasis on pioneering advanced weapon technologies, with the primary objective of crafting a cost-effective cruise missile. The SLCM-N is a cruise missile launched from surface ships or attack submarines (SSNs)—not from ballistic missile submarines.
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Treatment for anthrax would include antibacterial rounds and specific anthrax vaccines, with an estimated overall treatment cost of $46,099 per person. [vii][viii] An airburst missile with a spread radius of 1.4km would cost $872.4 billion to decontaminate. It provides an estimated range of explosion with estimated medical, fiscal, and humanitarian costs for each of the payload types. After two years of debate with the Biden administration, it passed, on a bipartisan basis, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024 with instructions to begin the SLCM-N program and achieve operational capability of the SLCM-N by 2034. There are forces at play—bureaucratic, budgetary, and programmatic—that could stymie the SLCM-N if Congress does not keep an eye on its progress and, at times, push its development in certain directions.
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For example, US lawmakers should press officials to examine the suitability of existing missiles, or those under development, as starting points to build from. Likewise, Congress should ensure that the Department of Defense does not generate such onerous military requirements for the SLCM-N that the perfect becomes the enemy of the good. A second problem with typical media reporting is that it does not consider the value of the defended assets, and thus the relationship between cost and the value of the assets defended. In the case of engagements with Houthi missiles, U.S. interceptors have been protecting commercial ships in the Red Sea that accounted for about 10 percent of global seaborne trade in 2023. While global shipping costs have risen in response to Houthi missile attacks, those costs would likely be higher if they were consistently hitting commercial vessels.
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China possesses about one thousand regional missiles that can be armed with conventional or nuclear warheads. None of these weapons are limited by treaty, and they far exceed US regional nuclear capabilities—a disparity noticed by US allies. Air Force’s program to build a new fleet of nuclear air-launched cruise missiles (ALCMs) has risen to between $14.2 billion and $16.2 billion as the service begins the main development phase for the weapons. The concept started as a long-range drone aircraft that would act as a decoy, distracting Soviet air defenses from the bombers.
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The Boeing B-52 Stratofortress is the exclusive delivery vehicle for the AGM-86 and AGM-129 ACM. The cost of launching a cruise missile can vary significantly depending on the type of missile, the distance it must travel, and the number of missiles being launched. For example, the US Navy estimates that it costs around $1 million to launch a single Tomahawk Block IV ALCM, while the cost of launching a single AGM-158 JASSM-ER LACM is estimated to be around $2.5 million. The cost of launching a single Kh-101 air-launched cruise missile is estimated to be around $4 million. More than two years ago, the Air Force Research Laboratory’s (AFRL) Gray Wolf program consisted of four spiral-development phases to develop and field a $100,000 cruise missile that could act in swarms to defeat enemy air defenses. Plans called for multiple options from decoy to electronic attack to long range high-explosive warheads against peer adversaries.
Range and power
These missiles have a range of over 1,000 kilometres (620 mi) and fly at about 800 kilometres per hour (500 mph).[37] They typically have a launch weight of about 1,500 kilograms (3,300 lb)[38] and can carry either a conventional or a nuclear warhead. Earlier versions of these missiles used inertial navigation; later versions use much more accurate TERCOM and DSMAC systems. Cruise missiles can play an important role in military operations, but their cost can be significant. The cost of cruise missiles can vary based on a variety of factors, such as the type of missile, its size, range, and the materials used in its construction.
SDA awarded SpaceX $149 million and L3Harris $194 million to each build four LEO sats carrying wide-field-of-view IR sensors as part of what it calls “Tranche 0” — i.e. a demo version — of its planned, seven-layer National Defense Space Architecture. SDA plans to begin launching the satellites next year, and to have all eight on orbit by March 31, 2023. The cost estimates include $13 billion to $97 billion for initial acquisition and $700 million to $18 billion per year for operation and support, as well as additional costs to replace systems that wear out or are lost to accidents. The submarines USS Louisville and USS Pittsburgh launched Tomahawks in 1991 at targets in Iraq and became the first submarines to fire Tomahawks while submerged. A land variant of MACE might fulfill the same requirement and in an attritional fight like that in Ukraine, its low cost would be highly desired. If MACE is successful, there’s a good chance that it could be used as a shipborne missile fired from the Mark 41 Vertical Launching Systems (VLS) that equips the Navy’s cruisers and destroyers.
Factors such as the type of missile, the distance it must travel, and the number of missiles being launched can all affect the total cost of launching a cruise missile. These include the type of missile, its size, range, and the materials used in its construction. Different types of cruise missiles are available for purchase, and the prices can vary greatly depending on the specific model and its capabilities. Two other aspects of the usual cost exchange ratio comparison should also be considered. In the first instance, the difficult decisions made by air and missile defense operators cannot be captured by a simple accounting exercise of comparing the cost of the weapons being fired. Air and missile defense engagement decisions are far more complex than choosing an interceptor that is of similar cost to the attacking missile.
After considering the two designs, the Air Force agreed to modify the ALCM with the SLCM's McDonnell Douglas AN/DPW-23 TERCOM system, as well as using its Williams F107 turbofan engine. Robert M. Soofer is a senior fellow in the Forward Defense program of the Atlantic Council’s Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security, where he leads the Nuclear Strategy Project. He served as deputy assistant secretary of defense for nuclear and missile defense policy from 2017 to 2021.
Additionally, the financial impact of cruise missile technology should be considered, as it carries both potential benefits and risks. The exact guidance system and navigational dynamics of the Tomahawk missile are classified. However, it is known that it can use GPS or inertial guidance systems to hit the target.
“It has greater electronic hardening to be able to work through jamming more effectively,” Clark said. “The hardening and the electronic countermeasures they’ve put into it make it harder to find and target with radar, and that improves its survivability. Whoever that might include will have to assure enough capacity and do so quickly if MACE is to be fielded by Fiscal 2027 in both high numbers and at low cost per missile. The RFI indicates that the missiles will need to be compatible with external carriage on the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet as the “threshold platform”. They’ll need to fit with internal and external carriage options for the F-35A/C as well.
[+] (VP) 8, deployed with Commander, Task Force (CTF) 57, directs the on load of an AGM-84D harpoon missile onto a P-8A Poseidon aircraft during a proficiency exercise in the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations, Dec. 9, 2020. The new missile estimates were prepared by the Air Force and the Pentagon’s independent cost-estimating office ahead of the program’s Milestone B decision, a landmark for major Pentagon acquisition programs because it is considered the program’s official start. Teams participating in the challenge are also tasked with enhancing weapons capacity and ensuring affordable, mass delivery. AFWERX, a pioneering program within the USAF, collaborates with a diverse array of experts, including scientists, engineers, and academics, to spearhead innovation and research efforts.
This led to the adoption of low-level attacks, where the bombers would fly below the radar horizon so they could not be seen on ground-based radars. Quail, originally designed for the high-altitude mission, was modified with the addition of a barometric altimeter to allow it to fly at lower altitudes. In the early 1960s, the Air Force began to question the usefulness of Quail in the face of improving Soviet defenses.
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