US to Deploy Brand New Hypersonic Missile, The "Dark Eagle," to Iran

The bad news: each of these missiles costs $15 million. And there are currently only eight of them.

The good news: They have a range of 1,725 miles and travel at Mach 5 (at their fastest). They can maneuver in flight and dodge attempts to intercept them. I don't really think Iran is very advanced as far as missile interceptions, but I guess they could try.

Their targets will be the remaining missile launchers Iran uses to terrorize its neighbors, hit US bases, and throttle shipping through the Strait of America. These missile launchers hide in fortified bunkers all day-- and then come out for just an hour to set up and launch a missile, and then hide again. These hypersonic missiles will be used as a very rapid response when a missile launcher is spotted by satellites or spyplanes.

It would take "minutes" for the Dark Eagle to reach its target, minimizing the chances that the launcher will duck back inside its bunker before being hit.

If they can take out eight of Iran's few remaining missile launchers, that will be $120 million well spent. (Though note the program's R&D cost $2.7 billion, but that's mostly sunk cost at this point.)

Bloomberg:

US Central Command has asked to send the Army's long-delayed Dark Eagle hypersonic missile to the Middle East for possible use against Iran, seeking a longer-range system to hit ballistic-missile launchers deep inside the country.

If approved, it would mark the first time the US will have deployed its hypersonic missile, which is running far behind schedule and hasn't been declared fully operational even as Russia and China have deployed their own versions.

The Request for Forces submission justifies the move by saying Iran has moved its launchers out of range of the Precision Strike Missile, a weapon that can hit targets at more than 300 miles, a person with direct knowledge of the request said.

...

Dark Eagle, also known as the Long-Range Hypersonic Weapon, or LRHW, has a reported range of more than 1,725 miles, although its exact capabilities are secret. It is designed to glide to its target at more than five times the speed of sound and can maneuver to avoid interception.

...

The US already transferred most of its supplies of the stealthy JASSM-ER cruise missile, also designed for a fight with a near-peer adversary, to the Iran fight. About 1,100 of the missiles have been fired so far in the conflict.

Trump has rejected Iran's laughable "proposal" for the US to end the blockade while Iran continues its nuclear program. He will keep the blockade in place until Iran agrees to give up its nuke program and nuke materials, and is preparing for "short but powerful" strikes against the regime.

President Trump told Axios he's going to keep Iran under a naval blockade until the regime agrees to a deal that addresses U.S. concerns about its nuclear program.

Why it matters: Trump is rejecting an Iranian proposal to first open the Strait of Hormuz and lift the blockade, while postponing nuclear talks to a later stage.

Behind the scenes: U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) has prepared a plan for a "short and powerful" wave of strikes on Iran in hopes of breaking the negotiating deadlock, three sources with knowledge said.

After the strikes, which would likely include infrastructure targets, the U.S. would press the regime to come back to the negotiating table and show more flexibility.

Trump told Axios he saw the blockade as "somewhat more effective than the bombing," and the sources said he had yet to order any kinetic action as of Tuesday night. He did post an AI-generated meme of himself holding a gun with a warning to Iran and the tagline, "NO MORE MR. NICE GUY."

For now, Trump sees continuing the blockade as his primary source of leverage, but he would consider military action if it Iran still won't cave, according to the sources. He declined to discuss any military plans in Wednesday's phone interview, which lasted around 15 minutes.

posted by Disinformation Expert Ace at 04:32 PM

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