This is a good capability, especially for the four SSGNs we have who can't be everywhere:
The U.S. Navy has conducted its first test of a new hypersonic missile.
The test was announced by Vice Adm. Terry Benedict, the director of the Strategic Systems Program (SSP), at the Naval Submarine League’s annual symposium in Arlington, Virginia, on November 2. “I’m very proud to report that at 0300 on Monday night SSP flew from Hawaii [Pacific Missile Range Facility] . . . the first conventional prompt strike missile for the United States Navy in the form factor that would eventually, could eventually be utilized if leadership chooses to do so in an Ohio-class tube,” Benedict said, according U.S. Naval Institute News, which first reported his remarks. “It’s a monumental achievement.”
Fast, long-range missiles would extend the envelope of the SSGN. That's good.
But nuclear warheads should never be put on them.
If a country has to worry about a salvo of such missiles decapitating leadership or a key strategic asset, it could encourage a hair trigger nuclear launch environment if an arsenal of nuclear hypersonic missiles are fielded.
This would be a good area for a strategic arms agreement between America, Russia, India, Pakistan, China, Britain, and France.
