Talk:Long-Range Engagement Weapon

LREW and its relation to Triple Target Terminator

While LREW may share similar goals to Triple Target Terminator (T3) and was announced a few years after the completion of the T3 test program, it seems unlikely that LREW is a direct continuation. While T3 ended up testing a specific long range air-breathing missile, there has been talk of LREW potentially (if an analysis of alternatives recommends it) being a Small Advanced Capabilities Missile with a 1st stage booster of some kind. An example of this is shown in slides from a USAF Air Force Research Laboratory 2015 report on the USAF AFRL's Munitions Directorate Overview to Industry presentation, where the only reference to long range missiles (noting that this is before the announcement of LREW) was "Multiple variants of basic SACM concept capabilities to handle: Med range A/A threats, Long range airborne threats, Ballistic Missile Defense".

If in 2015, the USAF was considering replacing the AIM-120 and AIM-9X family with just variants of SACM and MSDM, neither of which are air-breathing concepts, and we know that as of 2018 SACM is progressing through technology demonstration, then this would suggest that while an air breathing design is very likely still on the table, T3's design is unlikely to be the only one currently being considered for LREW. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Dragon029 (talk • contribs) 15:37, 11 December 2018 (UTC)