随着美国努力补充其导弹库存，它也在寻求为其武库开发新武器。“我们需要所有三个层次的导弹。便宜的导弹，现在属于高端的如爱国者导弹，然后可能还需要一些高超音速导弹，”马克·坎西安说，他是一名退役的美国海军陆战队上校，也是CSIS国防与安全部门的高级顾问。
As the U.S. works to refill its missile stockpile, it is also looking to develop new weapons for its arsenal. "We're going to need all three tiers of missiles. The cheap ones, the ones that are now the high-end like Patriot, and then maybe some hypersonics," said Mark Cancian, a retired U.S. Marines colonel and senior advisor with the CSIS Defense and Security Department.
美国军队对高超音速武器的兴趣日益增加，这些武器具有机动性，飞行速度是音速的五倍。
The U.S. military is taking an increasing interest in hypersonic weapons, which are maneuverable and travel five times faster than the speed of sound.
“这些高超音速系统如今被视为新颖的革命性系统，而弹道导弹则被视为过时的系统，”加州大学伯克利分校高级研究学者卡梅伦·特雷西说。
"These hypersonic systems are now seen as the novel revolutionary system and the ballistic missile is seen as the archaic one," said UC Berkeley Senior Research Scholar Cameron Tracy.
美国在高超音速竞赛中落后，中国和俄罗斯正在获得优势。但军队传统上投资的武器可能会带来成本。政府问责局的估算显示，陆军的远程高超音速武器“黑鹰”每枚导弹的成本可能超过4000万美元。随着海军为其宙斯蒙特级驱逐舰配备高超音速武器，政府问责局将估算提高到每枚导弹7000万美元——这包括开发和整合必要技术的成本。政府问责局还指出，该现代化项目落后于计划两年。
US FALLS BEHIND IN HYPERSONIC RACE AS CHINA, RUSSIA GAIN EDGE But the weapons the military has traditionally invested in could come at a cost. Estimates from the Government Accountability Office show missiles for the Army’s long-range hypersonic weapon, the Dark Eagle, could cost more than $40 million each. As the Navy works to equip its Zumwalt Destroyers with hypersonics, the GAO puts estimates at $70 million per missile – which includes costs to develop and incorporate the necessary technologies. The GAO also notes the modernization project is two years behind schedule.
“例如，从长远来看，陆军认为随着产能提升，远程高超音速武器的成本将会降低，”军控协会核武器政策与裁军高级政策分析师肖恩·梁说。
"In the long run, for example, the Army thinks that the long-ranged hypersonic weapon will become cheaper as production ramps up," said Xiaodon Liang, Arms Control Association Senior Policy Analyst for Nuclear Weapons Policy and Disarmament.
根据美国海军的数据，战斧导弹每枚成本约为260万美元。陆军预算文件显示，爱国者导弹每枚成本近400万美元。精确打击导弹（PrSM）每枚成本为160万美元。美国海军可以用一枚装在宙斯蒙特级驱逐舰上的高超音速导弹的价格购买近27枚战斧导弹。陆军可以用一枚“黑鹰”高超音速导弹的价格购买大约25枚精确打击导弹。
Tomahawk missiles cost around $2.6 million according to the U.S. Navy. Army budget documents show Patriot missiles cost nearly $4 million. Precision Strike Missiles or PrSMs cost $1.6 million per unit. The U.S. Navy could buy almost 27 tomahawks for the price of one hypersonic missile aboard the Zumwalt Destroyers. The Army could buy around 25 PrSMs for the price of one Dark Eagle hypersonic weapon.
“美国近年来在几个正在开始成果显现的项目上进行了投资，” 梁说。“这些是精密武器。我认为军方正在为精密目的获取它们。” 高超音速武器的速度可达传统导弹的20倍，而对手的反应时间被认为缩短了六倍。高超音速速度对于躲避敌方防御系统和实施打击也至关重要。大西洋理事会估计，执行任务所需的高超音速武器数量将减少75%。
"The U.S. has invested in recent years in several of the programs that are starting to become into fruition," said Liang. "These are exquisite weapons. And I think that the military is acquiring them for exquisite purposes." Hypersonic weapons travel up to 20 times faster than traditional missiles and an adversary’s reaction time is thought to be six times shorter. Hypersonic speeds are also vital for both evading enemy defense systems and executing strikes. The Atlantic Council estimates 75% fewer hypersonic weapons would be needed for a mission.
美国陆军向国防公司提供“礼宾式访问”以在军事靶场测试武器 初创企业希望通过更实惠的导弹和增强的测试能力来降低高超音速武器的生产成本。
US ARMY OFFERING DEFENSE FIRMS 'CONCIERGE ACCESS' TO TEST WEAPONS AT MILITARY RANGES Startups are hoping to bring down some of the costs to produce hypersonic weapons with more affordable missiles and increased testing capabilities.
“武器本身的成本低于50万美元，如果你了解弹药的话，这非常便宜，” Castelion联合创始人兼首席执行官布莱恩·哈吉斯说。
"The weapon itself is under $500,000, which if you know about munitions, that's incredibly cheap," Castelion co-founder and CEO Bryon Hargis said.
陆军和海军正在投资Castelion的黑胡子高超音速武器，该公司表示该武器是为大规模生产而设计的。
The Army and Navy are investing in Castelion's Blackbeard hypersonic weapon, which the company says it is designed for mass production.
“这是一个关于高超音速及其作为武器所能提供的能力的故事，但这实际上是一个关于美国制造业的故事，” 哈吉斯说。“公司专注于为美国提供选择，以建立中间威慑层，我们正通过生产来实现这一点。” 今年，Castelion开始建设其称将成为美国最大的专用高超音速武器生产设施。项目游骑兵预计每年将生产数千枚黑胡子武器。
"It is a story about hypersonics and what they can provide in terms of a weapon, but it's really a story of American manufacturing," Hargis said. "The company is focused on providing America options to have that middle deterrence layer and we're doing that through production." This year Castelion began building what it says will be the largest dedicated hypersonic weapon production facility in the U.S. Project Ranger is expected to produce thousands of Blackbeard weapons annually.
这些武器最终将用于履行Castelion的各项合同，例如将武器集成到美国海军的F/A-18超级大黄蜂战斗机中，将系统融入美国陆军的HIMARS，以及在无人水面舰艇上部署黑胡子武器。
Those will eventually be used to fill Castelion’s various contracts, such as integrating the weapons into the U.S. Navy's F/A-18 Super Hornet Jets, incorporating the system into the U.S. Army’s HIMARS and deploying Blackbeard on unmanned surface vessels.
“高超音速系统的优势在于它能飞行很远的距离，能够快速到达目标，并且由于其机动性而具有很高的生存能力。而这一点对于实现威慑非常重要，因为它很难被击落，”哈吉斯说。
"The advantage of a hypersonic system is that it goes very far, it gets there quickly, and it's highly survivable because of that maneuverability. And that's important for achieving deterrence because it's hard to shoot down," Hargis said.
高超音速武器大多仍在地球大气层内运行。这些导弹在飞行过程中具有机动性，能够快速打击目标，从大约1725英里外发射，15至30分钟内即可到达。
Hypersonic weapons remain mostly in Earth’s atmosphere. The missiles are maneuverable during flight and can strike a target quickly, in 15-30 minutes from around 1,725 miles away.
美国重建武器库存可能会延迟盟国的订单”如果你一开始不知道目标是什么，与弹道导弹不同，你可以计算它会落在哪里，你可能会误解，例如，将一次来袭打击误认为是斩首行动。而这将非常令人担忧，”梁说。
US REBUILDING WEAPONS STOCKPILE COULD DELAY ORDERS FROM ALLIES "If you don't know what the target would be initially, unlike a ballistic missile where you can calculate where it'll land, you might misinterpret, for example, an incoming strike as a decapitation attempt. And that would be very concerning," Liang said.
开发者表示，美国正在与其他国家讨论导弹发射及其预定目标。但还有其他担忧，认为高超音速机动性可能导致不准确。
Developers say the U.S. speaks with other countries about missile launches and what the intended targets are. But there are other concerns that hypersonic maneuverability could lead to inaccuracy.
“技术确实会随着时间的推移而改进，尤其是随着使用经验的积累，但这些系统的性能受到相当重要的物理限制，”特雷西说。
"Technologies do tend to improve over time as testing and especially as experience with use builds up, but there are pretty important physical constraints on the performance of these systems," said Tracy.
国防承包商火箭实验室正与战争部合作，通过增加试射次数来提高高超音速导弹能力。
Defense contractor Rocket Lab is working with the War Department to improve hypersonic missile capabilities through an increasing number of test launches.
在美国激光革命的内部，随着军方接近战场重大突破“通过我们的HASTE计划，我们实现了低成本、高频率的高超音速和导弹防御测试。当你能够以更低的成本和更快的速度获得这些能力时，你就会开始更多地采用‘以打代练’的方式来展示技术插入周期的能力，”火箭实验室全球发射服务副总裁布莱恩·罗杰斯说。
INSIDE AMERICA'S LASER REVOLUTION AS THE MILITARY NEARS BIG BATTLEFIELD BREAKTHROUGH "With our HASTE program, what we have enabled is low cost, high frequency hypersonic and missile defense testing. And when you can say that you can get that cheaper and faster, now you're looking at more of a shots on goal approach to demonstrating capability of the technology insertion cycle," Vice President of Global Launch Services at Rocket Lab Brian Rogers said.
火箭实验室的 HASTE 是一种亚轨道试验平台发射载具，为政府提供飞行测试机会，以推进高超音速和亚轨道系统技术的发展。该载具源自火箭实验室的 Electron 火箭，该火箭已执行近 100 次任务。
Rocket Lab’s HASTE is a suborbital testbed launch vehicle that provides flight test opportunities for the government to advance hypersonic and suborbital system technology development. The vehicle is derived from Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket, which has launched nearly 100 missions.
“与其说我们需要被困在分析环境中，然后进行一次成本高昂、涉及大量人员的严格测试活动，不如说我们正计划今年进行 12 次测试。我们不必将所有希望寄托在其中任何一次测试上。这使我们能够承担更多风险，并在技术发展方面真正取得突破，” 罗杰斯说。
"Rather than saying we need to be stuck in an analysis environment and then it's a very rigorous test campaign that costs a lot of money and involves a lot people, now you can say we're planning 12 tests this year. We don't have to bet the farm on any one of them. Which allows us to take more risk and really move the needle in terms of technology development," Rogers said.
美国军方从未使用过高超音速武器，但一直在探索将其“黑鹰”部署到中东。
The U.S. military has never used a hypersonic weapon but has explored deploying its Dark Eagle to the Middle East.
“如果我们真的使用它们，我会感到非常惊讶；如果我们大规模使用它们，我会更加惊讶，因为现有导弹数量很少，而且人们已经对弹药库存存在担忧，” 梁说。
"I would be very surprised if we used them and would be even more surprised if we used it extensively because of the small number of missiles that exist and the concerns already about the munitions stockpile," Liang said.