Potential scenarios that would require a fast response, currently only available in nuclear weapons, include an impending North Korean missile launch or an opportunity to strike Al Qaeda leadership in Pakistan. "Today, unless you want to go nuclear, it's measured in days, maybe weeks" until the military can launch an attack with regular forces, said Marine Corps General James Cartwright.
The PGS system will be designed to complement Forward Deployed Forces, Air Expeditionary Forces (which can deploy within 48 hours) and Carrier battle groups (which can respond within 96 hours). Possible delivery systems include:
-a rocket like those of existing ICBMs, launched from the United States mainland, or SLBMs
-an air-launched hypersonic cruise missile, such as the Boeing X-51
-launch from an orbiting space platform
As of 2010, the Air Force's prototype is a modified Minuteman III ICBM.[4] In March of 2011, the Air Force Major General David Scott stated that the service had no plans to use a sea or land based ICBM system for Prompt Global Strike, as they would be expensive to develop and potentially "dangerous." Instead, efforts will focus on a hypersonic glider.[5] The next day the Air Force Chief of Staff Norton Schwartz said that it was still an option.[6]
The George W. Bush administration considered such a weapon, but shelved the idea because an ICBM-launched weapon may trigger the nuclear warning system of Russia.[7]
But the Obama administration and others believe such a system could allow the U.S. to shrink its nuclear arsenal while maintaining deterrent and quick strike capabilities.
Under the Obama plan, the Prompt Global Strike warhead would be mounted on a long-range missile to start its journey toward a target. It would travel through the atmosphere at several times the speed of sound, generating so much heat that it would have to be shielded with special materials to avoid melting. (In that regard, it is akin to the problem that confronted designers of the space shuttle decades ago.)
But since the vehicle would remain within the atmosphere rather than going into space, it would be far more maneuverable than a ballistic missile, capable of avoiding the airspace of neutral countries, for example, or steering clear of hostile territory. Its designers note that it could fly straight up the middle of the Persian Gulf before making a sharp turn toward a target.
The Pentagon hopes to deploy an early version of the system by 2014 or 2015. But even under optimistic timetables, a complete array of missiles, warheads, sensors and control systems is not expected to enter the arsenal until 2017 to 2020, long after Mr. Obama will have left office, even if he is elected to a second term.
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