US Navy Successfully Tests Sea-Based Hypersonic Missile Launch
At Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on May 2, the Navy conducted the first end-to-end flight test of the Conventional Prompt Strike (CPS) missile using a cold-gas ejection method, Navy officials said in a statement. They described the approach as being able to safely eject the missile from the launch platform before igniting its first stage—a critical feature for shipboard launches, the Navy added.
Vice Adm. Johnny R. Wolfe Jr., Director of the Navy's Strategic Systems Programs, said the system is progressing toward deployment.
'The cold-gas approach allows the Navy to eject the missile from the platform and achieve a safe distance above the ship prior to first stage ignition,' Wolfe said in the statement. 'This technical achievement brings SSP one step closer to fulfilling our role of providing a safe and reliable hypersonic capability to our Navy.'
The CPS missile is a joint development between the Navy and the Army's Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office and features the Common Hypersonic Glide Body (C-HGB)—a
The missile is designed to travel at speeds above Mach 5 and maneuver mid-flight, making it difficult to detect and intercept. Mach 5 speeds are 5 times the speed of sound, or
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Unlike the subsonic Tomahawk cruise missile—long considered the Navy's
The USS Zumwalt, a stealth destroyer, is set to become the first naval vessel to deploy the CPS system. The ship is undergoing modifications to install four 87-inch vertical launch tubes, each capable of holding three hypersonic missiles, allowing it to carry up to 12 total. These tubes are replacing the ship's original 155mm Advanced Gun Systems, which were retired due to the prohibitive cost of ammunition.
While the U.S. marks a milestone with this launch, it is not the first nation to demonstrate sea-based hypersonic capability. Russia has already conducted multiple successful
The Navy emphasized that the successful test reflects the Pentagon's broader effort to accelerate hypersonic weapons development. While the Zumwalt's
U.S. officials say new strike capabilities like the CPS missile are essential to preserving the American military advantage and deterring future threats.
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USA Today
2 days ago
- USA Today
Dangerous weather predictions will get tougher after these Trump administration actions
The decision by the Department of Defense to stop providing data to NOAA is just the latest challenge for the agency this year. The heart-wrenching July 4 flooding in Texas served as a stark reminder of the importance of accurate and timely weather forecasts. Those forecasts were well done, more than a half-dozen meteorologists said, but as extreme rainfall events grow more intense, such tragedies are expected to increase. Further improvement to forecasts is critical, but the meteorologists worry that with the additional cuts planned by the Trump administration, the nation's weather and climate research programs won't be able to keep up. The latest blow was the announcement by the U.S. Navy that it would no longer transmit data from the aging satellites past June 30, roughly 15 months earlier than expected. Later, the department extended the deadline to July 31. Without those satellite images, hurricane forecast accuracy could be compromised, say current and former scientists with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Polar researchers, who use the images to measure the extent of sea ice, hope to acquire the same data through a Japanese government satellite instead. In any other year, the satellite snafu might not have gathered much attention. But this summer, it exacerbates mounting concerns about the accuracy of weather prediction, amidst contract cancellations, staff reductions and other Trump administration efforts to reduce the federal bureaucracy. 'You can't keep taking tools away from people and expect them to get the same result," said Andy Hazelton, a hurricane scientist at the University of Miami. Hazelton had been hired as a NOAA scientist last October and was dismissed in the Trump administration's widespread agency layoffs. "Taking away any one tool isn't going to suddenly take away the ability to forecast hurricanes," Hazelton said. 'But as they start to add up, it becomes more and more of a problem.' USA TODAY interviewed more than a dozen industry veterans, including a half-dozen former NOAA scientists, as well as independent researchers, who all fear that forecasts for hurricanes and other extreme weather events may become less accurate and that efforts to monitor the warming climate could be disrupted. The flash flood deaths in Texas on Independence Day weekend are not being blamed on poor forecasts, but weather scientists say the tragedy is emblematic of what can happen when forecasts become less cite several concerning developments, including: ◾ Hundreds of probationary employees were laid off and incentive packages sent hundreds more to early retirement, creating staffing shortages. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick recently told Congress there's a plan to hire more than 100 people to fill vacancies in the National Weather Service, but as of July 9, no such jobs had been posted on ◾Contracts have been canceled or caught up in a bottleneck by the new requirement that large agreements must be individually reviewed by a political appointee. For example, a fleet of autonomous ocean-going drones called Saildrones, which helped gather data used in hurricane forecasts, was not deployed this summer after a contracting issue. ◾Short-staffed weather forecast offices limited weather balloon launches. The balloons provide essential atmospheric data used in models that help predict hurricane movement, such as the balloon in Del Rio, Texas, that warned forecasters of the potential for heavy rain in Texas in early July. ◾Organizers at two conferences for emergency managers and local officials that traditionally feature keynote speeches and training by National Hurricane Center scientists had to scramble when the staffers weren't allowed to attend. The White House did not respond to a request for comment on a list of questions related to this year's developments. NOAA responded to the questions with a brief statement about the National Hurricane Center, saying it is 'dedicated to its mission, and our dialogue with partners continues and remains unchanged.' Climate programs cut back or stopped The Texas flooding underscores the well-documented evidence of how a warmer Gulf increases the magnitude of rain that falls in the most extreme storms. However, efforts to document and explain the changing climate are being restricted by the Trump administration. The website for the program that has overseen the writing of the Congressionally mandated National Climate Assessments every few years for decades vanished with no explanation. The project has been co-managed by NOAA, NASA and other agencies. Rebecca Lindsay, science writer and former editor of and other former NOAA employees said staff members have been told verbally to avoid using the word 'climate" and use 'environmental change' instead, but they weren't sure if that was to keep them out of trouble with political appointees or at the direction of political appointees. Hundreds of volunteer scientists who had begun working with federal agencies to complete the next climate assessment were dismissed. The preexisting reports are being moved to the NASA website, but there's no date set for that yet, according to an email from the agency. Additionally, a science website that explained climate patterns and research, with roughly a million page views a month this year, according to its former staff, was shut down and redirected to NOAA's main climate page. The staff, housed in the climate office, was dismissed. NOAA was also directed to review and analyze the purpose and traffic of its public websites on a spreadsheet dubbed 'OMB Low Hanging Fruit,' a copy of which was provided to USA TODAY. The White House proposed reducing the NOAA budget by 30% and eliminating its Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research, which would mean closing its research laboratories and cooperative institutes with universities. Some say US reputation at stake Industry veterans say the resulting chaos, combined with similar actions at other agencies, is tarnishing the nation's reputation as a global scientific leader. 'We're in uncharted territory,' said Michael Mann, a climate scientist, geophysicist and director of the Center for Science, Sustainability & the Media at the University of Pennsylvania. 'I hear it constantly from my colleagues outside the U.S. They're shocked, they're horrified. They can't believe it.' Countries around the world have often looked to the United States for leadership on science, and now, the United States 'is going to be left behind," Mann said. "China, Europe, Australia and countries looking to lead are recognizing this opportunity and they're reaching out to scientists in the U.S. and offering them very attractive positions." He compared the situation to a runner tripping out of the gate in a 400-meter race. 'You're going to lose the race,' he said. Many of the actions at NOAA follow recommendations from Project 2025, a report by the Heritage Foundation, a Washington, D.C.-based conservative think tank. It laid the framework for a conservative overhaul of the federal government and suggested NOAA's science was politicized and causing climate change alarm. Several of its authors had previously, or are now, working in President Donald Trump 's administration. Scientists who spoke with USA TODAY freely volunteer that the agency isn't perfect and could make improvements. But they say the current direction will cost taxpayers billions and risk lives when hurricane forecasts are inaccurate and the nation fails to adapt to changes in temperature and sea levels that have already made some extreme weather events more intense. The growing reports that NOAA and the weather service are being degraded by understaffing and budget cuts have alarmed some members of Congress, who raised the issues during recent Capitol Hill briefings. Senators from both sides of the aisle raised the issue during a July 9 confirmation hearing for Neil Jacobs, who has been nominated as NOAA administrator. More than a week before the floods, U.S. Rep. Eric Sorensen, an Illinois Democrat and the only meteorologist in Congress, and Rep. Nathaniel Moran, a Texas Republican, co-sponsored legislation to require an urgent study to get 'a better picture of the state of our current weather forecasting abilities across the country.' 'Having access to accurate and reliable weather forecasting is critically important for everyone," Sorensen said, "whether you're a farmer trying to plant your harvest or a family determining if you need to shelter in place for a tornado."
USA Today
3 days ago
- USA Today
Dangerous weather predictions will get tougher after these Trump administration actions
The decision by the Department of Defense to stop providing data to NOAA is just the latest challenge for the agency this year. The heart-wrenching July 4 flooding in Texas served as a stark reminder of the importance of accurate and timely weather forecasts. Those forecasts were well done, more than a half-dozen meteorologists said, but as extreme rainfall events grow more intense, such tragedies are expected to increase. Further improvement to forecasts is critical, but the meteorologists worry that with the additional cuts planned by the Trump administration the nation's weather and climate research programs won't be able to keep up. The latest blow was the announcement by the U.S. Navy that it would no longer transmit data from the aging satellites past June 30, roughly 15 months earlier than expected. Later the department extended the deadline to July 31. Without those satellite images, hurricane forecast accuracy could be compromised, say current and former scientists with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Polar researchers, who use the images to measure the extent of sea ice, hope to acquire the same data through a Japanese government satellite instead. In any other year, the satellite snafu might not have gathered much attention. But this summer, it exacerbates mounting concerns about the accuracy of weather prediction, amidst contract cancellations, staff reductions and other Trump administration efforts to reduce the federal bureaucracy. 'You can't keep taking tools away from people and expect them to get the same result," said Andy Hazelton, a hurricane scientist at the University of Miami. Hazelton had been hired as a NOAA scientist last October and was dismissed in the Trump administration's widespread agency layoffs. "Taking away any one tool, isn't going to suddenly take away the ability to forecast hurricanes," Hazelton said. 'But as they start to add up, it becomes more and more of a problem.' USA TODAY interviewed more than a dozen industry veterans, including a half-dozen former NOAA scientists, as well as independent researchers, who all fear that forecasts for hurricanes and other extreme weather events may become less accurate and that efforts to monitor the warming climate could be disrupted. The flash flood deaths in Texas on Independence Day weekend are not being blamed on poor forecasts, but weather scientists say the tragedy is emblematic of what can happen when forecasts become less cite a number of concerning developments, including: The White House did not respond to a request for comment on a list of questions related to this year's developments. NOAA responded to the questions with a brief statement about the National Hurricane Center, saying it is 'dedicated to its mission, and our dialogue with partners continues and remains unchanged.' Climate programs cut back or stopped The Texas flooding underscores the well-documented evidence of how a warmer Gulf increases the magnitude of rain that falls in the most extreme storms, however efforts to document and explain the changing climate are being restricted by the Trump administration. The website for the program that has overseen the writing of the Congressionally mandated National Climate Assessments every few years for decades vanished with no explanation. The project has been co-managed by NOAA, NASA and other agencies. Rebecca Lindsay, science writer and former editor of and other former NOAA employees said staff members have been told verbally to avoid using the word 'climate" and use 'environmental change' instead, but they weren't sure if that was to keep them out of trouble with political appointees or at the direction of political appointees. Hundreds of volunteer scientists who had begun working with federal agencies to complete the next climate assessment were dismissed. The preexisting reports are being moved to the NASA website but there's no date set for that yet, according to an email from the agency. Additionally, a science website that explained climate patterns and research, with roughly a million page views a month this year, according to its former staff, was shut down, and redirected to NOAA's main climate page. The staff, housed in the climate office, was dismissed. NOAA also was directed to review and analyze the purpose and traffic of its public websites on a spreadsheet dubbed 'OMB Low Hanging Fruit,' a copy of which was provided to USA TODAY. The White House proposed reducing the NOAA budget by 30% and eliminating its office of Oceanic and Atmosphere Research, which would mean closing its research laboratories and cooperative institutes with universities. Some say US reputation at stake Industry veterans say the resulting chaos, combined with similar actions at other agencies, is tarnishing the nation's reputation as a global scientific leader. 'We're in uncharted territory,' said Michael Mann, a climate scientist, geophysicist and director of the Center for Science, Sustainability & the Media at the University of Pennsylvania. 'I hear it constantly from my colleagues outside the U.S. They're shocked, they're horrified. They can't believe it.' Countries around the world have often looked to the U.S. for leadership on science, and now, the U.S. 'is going to be left behind," Mann said. "China, Europe, Australia and countries looking to lead are recognizing this opportunity and they're reaching out to scientists in the U.S. and offering them very attractive positions." He compared the situation to a runner tripping out of the gate in a 400-meter race. 'You're going to lose the race,' he said. Many of the actions at NOAA follow recommendations from Project 2025, a report by the Heritage Foundation, a Washington, D.C.-based conservative think tank. It laid the framework for a conservative overhaul of the federal government and suggested NOAA's science was politicized and causing climate change alarm. Several of its authors had previously, or are now, working in President Donald Trump's administration. Scientists who spoke with USA TODAY freely volunteer that the agency isn't perfect and could make improvements. But they say the current direction will cost taxpayers billions and risk lives when hurricane forecasts are inaccurate and the nation fails to adapt to changes in temperature and sea levels that have already made some extreme weather events more intense. The growing reports that NOAA and the National Weather Service are being degraded by understaffing and budget cuts have alarmed some members of Congress, who raised the issues during recent Capitol Hill briefings. Senators from both sides of the aisle raised the issue during a July 9 confirmation hearing for Neil Jacobs, who's been nominated as NOAA administrator. More than a week before the floods, U.S. Rep. Eric Sorensen, an Illinois Democrat and the only meteorologist in Congress, and Rep. Nathaniel Moran, a Texas Republican, co-sponsored legislation to require an urgent study to get 'a better picture of the state of our current weather forecasting abilities across the country.' 'Having access to accurate and reliable weather forecasting is critically important for everyone," Sorensen said, "whether you're a farmer trying to plant your harvest or a family determining if you need to shelter in place for a tornado." Dinah Voyles Pulver, a national correspondent for USA TODAY, covers climate change, weather, the environment and other news. Reach her at dpulver@ or @dinahvp on Bluesky or X or dinahvp.77 on Signal.
Fast Company
5 days ago
- Fast Company
Hurricane forecasters are losing key satellites. What to know
About 600 miles off the west coast of Africa, large clusters of thunderstorms begin organizing into tropical storms every hurricane season. They aren't yet in range of Hurricane Hunter flights, so forecasters at the National Hurricane Center rely on weather satellites to peer down on these storms and beam back information about their location, structure and intensity. The satellite data helps meteorologists create weather forecasts that keep planes and ships safe and prepare countries for a potential hurricane landfall. Now, meteorologists are about to lose access to three of those satellites. On June 25, 2025, the Trump administration issued a service change notice announcing that the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program, DMSP, and the Navy's Fleet Numerical Meteorology and Oceanography Center would terminate data collection, processing and distribution of all DMSP data no later than June 30. The data termination was postponed until July 31 following a request from the head of NASA's Earth Science Division. I am a meteorologist who studies lightning in hurricanes and helps train other meteorologists to monitor and forecast tropical cyclones. Here is how meteorologists use the DMSP data and why they are concerned about it going dark. Looking inside the clouds At its most basic, a weather satellite is a high-resolution digital camera in space that takes pictures of clouds in the atmosphere. These are the satellite images you see on most TV weather broadcasts. They let meteorologists see the location and some details of a hurricane's structure, but only during daylight hours. Meteorologists can use infrared satellite data, similar to a thermal imaging camera, at all hours of the day to find the coldest cloud-top temperatures, highlighting areas where the highest wind speeds and rainfall rates are found. But while visible and infrared satellite imagery are valuable tools for hurricane forecasters, they provide only a basic picture of the storm. It's like a doctor diagnosing a patient after a visual exam and checking their temperature. For more accurate diagnoses, meteorologists rely on the DMSP satellites. The three satellites orbit Earth 14 times per day with special sensor microwave imager/sounder instruments, or SSMIS. These let meteorologists look inside the clouds, similar to how an MRI in a hospital looks inside a human body. With these instruments, meteorologists can pinpoint the storm's low-pressure center and identify signs of intensification. Precisely locating the center of a hurricane improves forecasts of the storm's future track. This lets meteorologists produce more accurate hurricane watches, warnings and evacuations. Hurricane track forecasts have improved by up to 75% since 1990. However, forecasting rapid intensification is still difficult, so the ability of DMPS data to identify signs of intensification is important. About 80% of major hurricanes—those with wind speeds of at least 111 mph (179 kilometers per hour)— rapidly intensify at some point, ramping up the risks they pose to people and property on land. Finding out when storms are about to undergo intensification allows meteorologists to warn the public about these dangerous hurricanes. Where are the defense satellites going? NOAA's Office of Satellite and Product Operations described the reason for turning off the flow of data as a need to mitigate ' a significant cybersecurity risk.' The three satellites have already operated for longer than planned. The DMSP satellites were launched between 1999 and 2009 and were designed to last for five years. They have now been operating for more than 15 years. The United States Space Force recently concluded that the DMSP satellites would reach the end of their lives between 2023 and 2026, so the data would likely have gone dark soon. Are there replacements for the DMSP satellites? Three other satellites in orbit—NOAA-20, NOAA-21 and Suomi NPP—have a microwave instrument known as the advanced technology microwave sounder. The advanced technology microwave sounder, or ATMS, can provide data similar to the special sensor microwave imager/sounder, or SSMIS, but at a lower resolution. It provides a more washed-out view that is less useful than the SSMIS for pinpointing a storm's location or estimating its intensity. The U.S. Space Force began using data from a new defense meteorology satellite, ML-1A, in late April 2025. ML-1A is a microwave satellite that will help replace some of the DMSP satellites' capabilities. However, the government hasn't announced whether the ML-1A data will be available to forecasters, including those at the National Hurricane Center. Why are satellite replacements last-minute? Satellite programs are planned over many years, even decades, and are very expensive. The current geostationary satellite program launched its first satellite in 2016 with plans to operate until 2038. Development of the planned successor for GOES-R began in 2019. Similarly, plans for replacing the DMSP satellites have been underway since the early 2000s. Delays in developing the satellite instruments and funding cuts caused the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System and Defense Weather Satellite System to be canceled in 2010 and 2012 before any of their satellites could be launched. The 2026 NOAA budget request includes an increase in funding for the next-generation geostationary satellite program, so it can be restructured to reuse spare parts from existing geostationary satellites. The budget also terminates contracts for ocean color, atmospheric composition and advanced lightning mapper instruments. A busy season remains The 2025 Atlantic hurricane season, which runs from June 1 to Nov. 30, is forecast to be above average, with six to 10 hurricanes. The most active part of the season runs from the middle of August to the middle of October, after the DMSP satellite data is set to be turned off. Hurricane forecasters will continue to use all available tools, including satellite, radar, weather balloon and dropsonde data, to monitor the tropics and issue hurricane forecasts. But the loss of satellite data, along with , could ultimately put more lives at risk.
