3 ms·

Reading through the timeline on that page, it sounds like Congress has decided to kill the project. I wonder if this successful test will turn that around.

ortusdux 4y ago
From Lockheed's press release: Additional booster and all-up-round test flights will continue throughout 2022, before reaching Early Operational Capability (EOC) in 2023. So it sounds like they found the cash somewhere. https://news.lockheedmartin.com/2022-05-17-us-air-force-and-lockheed-martin-successfully-complete-arrw-hypersonic-boosted-test-flight https://news.lockheedmartin.com/2022-05-17-us-air-force-and-...
riku_iki 4y ago
It says they transferred half of funds from procurement to R&D, probably because previous tests failures.
KennyBlanken 4y ago
Biden's bumping up the military budget by tens of billions of dollars, that's what's turning this around. We finally got ourselves out of the Middle East, but we gotta keep the military-industrial complex fed, I guess. We already spend more total and per capita than the next top ten countries combined. It's so sad. We could do so much domestically, or just worked on influencing foreign policy by helping other countries, instead of military force projection.
- credit_guy 4y ago
  The problem with military spending is that if you choose your investments very judiciously, you end up not being attacked. And if you are not attacked, it looks like all the investment was for nothing.
- nradov 4y ago
  20+ years of the "Global War on Terror" really ground down our military capability across the board. Systems were pushed past the breaking point in a short-sighted attempt to hold down costs. Now if we're going to continue having an effective military at all then we're going to have to recapitalize everything. That is the budgetary reality. If we want to reduce the intended mission set and scale down the military accordingly then that's an option, but it means surrendering control of the Asia-Pacific region to China. Would that be better?

ortusdux 4y ago

From Lockheed's press release: Additional booster and all-up-round test flights will continue throughout 2022, before reaching Early Operational Capability (EOC) in 2023. So it sounds like they found the cash somewhere. https://news.lockheedmartin.com/2022-05-17-us-air-force-and-lockheed-martin-successfully-complete-arrw-hypersonic-boosted-test-flight https://news.lockheedmartin.com/2022-05-17-us-air-force-and-...

riku_iki 4y ago

It says they transferred half of funds from procurement to R&D, probably because previous tests failures.

KennyBlanken 4y ago

Biden's bumping up the military budget by tens of billions of dollars, that's what's turning this around. We finally got ourselves out of the Middle East, but we gotta keep the military-industrial complex fed, I guess. We already spend more total and per capita than the next top ten countries combined. It's so sad. We could do so much domestically, or just worked on influencing foreign policy by helping other countries, instead of military force projection.

credit_guy 4y ago
The problem with military spending is that if you choose your investments very judiciously, you end up not being attacked. And if you are not attacked, it looks like all the investment was for nothing.
nradov 4y ago
20+ years of the "Global War on Terror" really ground down our military capability across the board. Systems were pushed past the breaking point in a short-sighted attempt to hold down costs. Now if we're going to continue having an effective military at all then we're going to have to recapitalize everything. That is the budgetary reality. If we want to reduce the intended mission set and scale down the military accordingly then that's an option, but it means surrendering control of the Asia-Pacific region to China. Would that be better?