Typhon is the Mid Range Capability (MRC) system that will deploy launchers capable of firing SM-6 or Tomahawk. This will sit between the Long Range Hypersonic Weapon (LRHW), now named Dark Eagle and the Precision Strike Missile.
The prototypes are here already and the initial systems will be in the hands of units before the end of 2023.
These are the sorts of systems Australia is likely to be looking to as short term gap fillers, not bombers that are likely a decade and a half or more away.
These systems, SM-6, Tomahawk, and Dark Eagle will create synergies with future major combatant and submarine weapons. They are a no brainer.
I know bombers are sexy, but the B-21, at this point, isn't even a developmental platform yet. The missiles are here or near, as well as potentially being deployed in multiple different ways. They are available to the ADF in the near to medium term. The B-21 is a very expensive, niche capability, that it's potentially two decades off, even if we commit now.
Please understand, even if B-21 is named and pushed in the FSR, the missiles will be here a decade or more earlier.
The other factor is the missiles either already are, or will be stored as rounds of ammunition. Much of the training will be via simulation. The land based systems could quite literally be predominantly operated by reserve units. High level capability but with a comparatively low operating foot print.
www.aspistrategist.org.au
