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Pentagon eyes new long-range "strike" weapon WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Pentagon is speeding up the development of new weapons designed to knock out targets anywhere in the world in short order. The Defense Department said on Friday it wants to develop a new "land-based, penetrating strike capability" for fielding by 2018 while modernizing the current bomber force of B-1s, B-2s and B-52s. The terms "long-range strike" and "bombers" were once synonymous. But such 21st-century systems could be manned or unmanned and could involve a mix of missiles, rockets, lasers and other munitions, defense experts said. The move was formally unveiled in the Pentagon's Quadrennial Defense Review, or QDR, a roadmap for U.S. strategy and forces required by Congress once every four years. The Pentagon will seek funds in fiscal 2007 for the accelerated project. The target date for the new strike capability's deployment had been 2037 but was moved up 19 years, said Andrew Krepinevich, a consultant to the Pentagon on the strategic review and head of the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, an independent research group. The Air Force's Air Combat Command, which provides the bulk of U.S. combat air power, began an analysis of alternatives for the project in October that is expected to take a year, said a command spokeswoman, Major Bernadette Dozier. The United States is eager to forestall any military challenge from China, which has threatened to use force against U.S.-equipped Taiwan and which is moving to find oil supplies worldwide. Referring to China's large territory and a lack of U.S. bases in the area, the Pentagon said it must "place a premium on forces capable of sustained operations at great distances. |
