The US has unveiled a new hypersonic missile that carries a warhead 20 times the size of the bomb dropped on Hiroshima at the end of World War 2.
Washington’s monster weapon is still being developed but will replace the Minuteman III missiles which are currently stationed in North Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, and Nebraska.
The new missile is called LGM-35 Sentinel, a land-based intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) system.
The weapon is being developed by Northrop Grumman on a contract worth £10.6bn ($13.3bn) from the Department of the Air Force.
Boeing was initially going to build the missile, but later pulled out.
The US’ Minuteman III was first deployed in 1970. The new missiles will be phased in over a 10-year period starting in the late 2020s.
The LGM-Sentinel will cost an estimated £210bn ($264bn) over a 50-year life cycle.
The Sentinel will carry a huge W87 Mod 1 (W87-1) thermonuclear warhead.
The Minuteman III currently has a W78 warhead.
US forces will test their new weapon at Hill Air Force Base, Utah and at Vandenberg Space Force Base (VSFB), California.
The missiles will be launched from the California base over the Pacific Ocean.
They will then conduct more testing at US Army Dugway Proving Ground, Utah, US Army Garrison–Kwajalein Atoll and within the territorial waters of the Republic of the Marshall Islands.
Secretary of Defence, Llyod Austin, has been an avid supporter of the new weapons programme.
Backers of the new missile have warned that the upgrades are needed due to Russia and China’s efforts to develop new weapons.
As reported by The Sun, Physicist David Wright, former co-director of the UCS Global Security Program says that submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs) are just as accurate as land-based missiles, and are “virtually undetectable,” making intercontinental ballistic missiles redundant.
Russia continues to pose a threat in Ukraine as Moscow’s forces throw thousands of men into the fighting.
China has also threatened on numerous occasions to take military action against Taiwan as well as asserting control over the South China Sea.
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