NATO Continues Expansion of Firepower Directed at Russia
U.S. Tests "Unconventional" Delivery of Air-to-Surface Cruise Missile in Norway
On November 9, U.S. Special Forces tested the "unconventional" delivery of an air-to-surface cruise missile over Norwegian airspace in the Arctic, from the Andoya Space Range. The test involved pushing a "palletized munitions system" contained in a steel cage out the cargo ramp at the rear of a Lockheed C-130 Hercules military transport aircraft. The cage stabilized under parachutes, then a sling gate opened and the missile dropped out before its engine ignited to carry it toward its target.
Wikipedia states, "The size of the deployment boxes is configurable to fit mission or dropship dimensions supporting the launch; ranging from four to 45 AGM-158 JASSM-ER cruise missiles to strike targets at a range of 925 km (575 mi) to 1,900 km (1,200 mi) when large numbers of JASSM-XR become available in 2024."
Stars and Stripes states that this was the "first-ever demonstration in Europe of Rapid Dragon, an experimental program that uses standard air drop procedures to launch air-to-surface cruise missiles."
Special Operations Command Europe's (SOCEUR) Lt. Col. Lawrence Melnicoff told Stars and Stripes that this method of delivery puts such offensive weaponry within range of Russia. The location of this particular test underscores this aim, as the Andoya Space Range is roughly 500 km from Russian territory and about 1,900 km from Moscow, while the eastern limit of Norway's Arctic shares a border with Russia and is roughly 1,500 km away from Moscow.
"We are intentionally trying to be provocative without being escalatory," said Melnicoff, who further claimed that this escalation of arms is meant to be a deterrent against "Russian aggression, expansionist behaviour." In trying to portray Russia as an aggressor nation, he did not provide the context that the unchecked expansion of the aggressive NATO war alliance toward Russia since the end of the Cold War is destabilizing all of Europe.
The Norway exercise coincided with similar drills in Poland and Romania, part of U.S. European Command's Atreus program, which aims to expand the options for weaponry available to U.S. allies. While these allies may lack the long-range bombers of the U.S., the use of cargo aircraft equipped with the Rapid Dragon system can give them similar capabilities. According to Melnicoff, the system also has the potential to be paired with other types of materiel, including hypersonic weapons and swarm drones.
This article was published in
Volume 52 Number 47 - November 18, 2022
Article Link:
https://cpcml.ca/Tmld2022/Articles/D520476.HTM
Website: www.cpcml.ca Email: editor@cpcml.ca