The U.S. Air Force is running out of cruise missiles.
In response, Air Force officials, concerned that the current inventory of
air-launched cruise missiles will not be enough for a future conflict, have
decided to re-start production of the Cold War-era weapon.
The service decided to restart production of the air-launched cruise
missile after the U.S.A.F. arsenal dropped to an all-time low of 60 weapons.
The Air Force missile shortage reportedly was caused by the Clinton
administration, which used large numbers of the robot missile weapons for
strikes against Iraq and Kosovo.
In 1996, Air Force officers were openly critical of the Clinton
administration for wasting missiles, following strikes against Iraq. One
specific example cited was the unsuccessful “Desert Strike” operation, in
which air-launched cruise missiles with fragmentary warheads were
mis-targeted against hardened Iraqi bunkers on White House orders. The
missile fragmentary warheads, designed to destroy “soft” targets such as
trucks, are ineffective against hardened concrete bunkers.
U.S. Navy Tomahawk cruise missile. Janes Defense reported that
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The White House reportedly bypassed the U.S.A.F. Air Combat Command and
directly ordered airborne B-52s to fire the cruise missiles against the
Iraqi bunkers. The missiles exploded harmlessly outside the Iraqi bunkers,
causing no damage. The Iraqi bunkers were destroyed later by a second
follow-on strike, using U.S. Navy Tomahawk missiles armed with conventional
blast explosive warheads.
The U.S. Air Force is currently converting 322 nuclear-armed cruise
missiles to carry conventional warheads in an effort to bolster stocks. The
conversion to conventional warheads will leave the Air Force with less than
100 nuclear-tipped missiles for its strategic mission. The recent order of
618 new missiles is intended to boost the Air Force’s total to nearly 1,000
conventional weapons.
The weapon purchase favors Boeing, maker of the current cruise missile in
Air Force service. The Air Force noted that no new improvements or
variations in size are required, and the specifications also note that there
must be “minimal” changes to the support equipment and aircraft. The
decision is seen as a temporary measure to arm B-52 and B-1 bombers with the
popular robot flying bomb.
Boeing has offered to the Air Force to re-start a new air-launched cruise
missile production line. However, Boeing sources told WorldNetDaily that
most of its cruise missile manufacturing equipment has been sold or was
dismantled after the Cold War ended. Other leading candidates include
missile proposals from Lockheed/Martin and Raytheon. Air Force funding for
the new cruise missile program was not included in the 2000 fiscal year
budget. The service hopes to field the new missile by 2005 and plans to
start development in 2001.
The Russian NPO Mashinstroyenie 3M54 “Alfa” missile closely
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The Clinton administration has been criticized previously for the cruise
missile shortage. In 1999, Senator Frank Murkowski, R-Alaska, blasted the
Clinton administration for the current air-launched cruise missile shortage
and warned that a shortage of the Navy’s ship-launched cruise missile also
is looming. Murkowski said potential adversaries, such as North Korea, “are
beefing up their own missile capability.”
The missile shortage appears just as the People’s Republic of China is
developing a new cruise missile reported to be nearly identical to the U.S.
Navy Tomahawk. In an article published early this year by Jane’s Strategic
Weapon Systems editor Duncan Lennox, “China’s new cruise missile programme
‘racing ahead,'” the People’s Liberation Army is already testing a copy of
the U.S. Navy Tomahawk cruise missile.
“The use of Western RGM/UGM-109 Tomahawk cruise missiles since 1991
against six countries has allowed China opportunities in reverse
engineering,” noted Lennox. “More than 600 Tomahawk missiles were launched
in attacks against targets in Iraq between 1991-98, in Bosnia in 1995, in
Afghanistan and Sudan in 1998, and in Serbia and Kosovo in 1999. As there
are at least six reported cases when these missiles landed more or less
intact without the warhead exploding, some were believed to have been
recovered and transported to China.”
“A wide range of advanced technologies associated with cruise missile
design may therefore have been made available to China,” wrote Lennox.
“These include: INS/GPS guidance; computer hardware and software;
electronics; power supplies; airframe; wings; fuel system; and small
turbofan engines.”
China’s development of a nuclear-armed cruise missile was first reported
in a 1995 Russian document that suggested that a complete production
facility was transferred to Shanghai. According to Lennox, China is already
deploying this new long-range nuclear-tipped cruise missile.
“Recent developments within China’s new cruise missile programmes,
although not confirmed officially, indicate that rates of progress have been
faster than anticipated,” wrote Lennox. “Reports suggest that an improved
engine became available in 1992, and that an HN-2 version entered service in
1996 with a range increased to between 1,500 and 2,000km.”
The major components of the U.S.A.F. air-launched cruise missile.
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“A warhead weight of 300 to 400kg is expected with this design, which
could be nuclear with a yield of 90kT or high explosive submunitions,” wrote
the Jane’s defense editor. “Guidance in mid-course is inertial, with
terrain comparison and possibly GPS updates. Terminal guidance is believed
to be by terrain comparison, using a TV camera to view the target area and
refine the aim point.”
In contrast to the Jane’s article, the new Chinese cruise missile program
received little interest in a June 2000 Pentagon report on the future course
of military-technological
development in the People’s Liberation Army.
“China also is developing LACMs (land-attack cruise missiles),” states
the June 2000 Defense Department report. “These missiles appear to have a
relatively high development priority. Chinese research and development of
LACMs is being aided by an
aggressive effort to acquire foreign cruise missile technology and
subsystems, particularly from Russia. The first LACM to enter production
probably would be air-launched and could be operational by mid-decade.”
Yet, a newly published report shows that dangerous cruise missile
inventories held by potential U.S. adversaries are actually at an all-time
high. According to a just-published article in the U.S. Naval Proceedings
by Brigadier Gen. Bruce Byrum U.S.M.C., “Cruise Missile Defense From the
Sea?” the airborne robot bomb is the “weapon of choice” for future
dictators.
“More than 75 countries now have some 75,000 cruise missiles in their
arsenals, many of which can be easily converted to land-attack roles,” wrote
Byrum. “At least 17 states are producing 130 different types of cruise
missiles and a dozen countries are exporting these weapons to practically
anyone with the sufficient cash or credit to acquire them.”
Byrum concluded, “Indeed, because of the relative ease of indigenous
production or modification using commercial off-the-shelf technologies, and
at prices well less than $1 million each, they are becoming the weapon of
choice for regional powers intent on intimidation and aggression. Making a
mockery of international missile technology control regimes, land-attack
cruise missiles inventories are expected to double
by 2010.”
Read Joseph Farah’s commentary: