Why are they spending millions to develop a hypersonic cruise missile???
The GAM-87/AGM-48A Skybolt was designed and built almost 50 years ago. With today's materials and electronics, this thing could be extremely useful in taking out high priority targets.
Length 11.66 m (38 ft 3 in)
Finspan 1.68 m (5 ft 6 in)
Diameter 89 cm (35 in)
Weight 5000 kg (11000 lb)
Speed 15300 km/h (9500 mph)*
Ceiling 480+ km (300+ miles)
Range 1850 km (1150 miles)
Propulsion Aerojet Genaral two-stage solid-fueled rocket
Warhead W-59 thermonuclear (1.2 MT) (replace with something a bit smaller)
*Damn, that's fast!