U.S. Army Gets Its First Post-INF Treaty Weapons System

Dec. 9, 2022 (EIRNS)—Lockheed Martin announced on Dec. 5 that it had delivered the first unit of what the U.S. Army calls the “Mid-Range Capability,” also being called the “Typhon Weapon System” or TWS, to the Army’s Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technology Office. The TWS is a ground-based mid-range missile system derived from the U.S. Navy’s Aegis weapons system. It includes truck-mounted box launchers that can fire either the Navy’s SM-6 Standard missile or the Tomahawk cruise missile. The TWS is a surface-to-surface missile system with a range somewhere between 300 miles and 1,725 miles, that is, right within the range that was prohibited by the now-dead Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty. It is based on the Aegis system because that was the fastest way to get a land-based system of such range into the Army’s hands after the death of the treaty. It does not include the anti-air/anti-missile aspects of the Aegis system, but otherwise relies on technology from the MK41 launch system, the command-and-control system and the software from the Aegis. A total of five such batteries are planned over the course of the initial program, reported the War Zone.

The first battalion set is intended for training soldiers on the system and is aimed at an initial operational capability sometime in early 2023. How it will be deployed at that time remains to be seen but Stars & Stripes cites a Dec. 6 Congressional Research Service report, noting that “Given range limitations of Army long range precision fires systems, the inability to secure overseas basing rights for these units could limit or negate their effectiveness.”

Also not known at this time is whether a nuclear armed cruise missile is in the Army’s future. The National Defense Authorization Act that passed the House on Dec. 7 includes $25 million for the Sea Launched Cruise Missile-Nuclear (SLCM-N) even though the Biden Administration wants to kill it. The Trump Administration initiated the SLCM-N in 2018.

Note: In Greek Mythology, Typhon was a god of the underworld, a monster with 100 dragon heads, that was confined by Zeus to the regions around Mount Aetna, and identified with explosions and volcanic eruptions. Cerberus, the three-headed “hound of hell,” was one of these offspring. Who named this weapon, and what is the cultural outlook this “naming” indicates? Those familiar with the Order of the Death’s Head, otherwise known as the SS, have an idea.