US successfully tests Rapid Dragon system: All of China’s coastal strongholds are within range.


The U.S. Air Force has validated a key concept that will drastically boost the service's firepower in wartime. Rapid Dragon, an approach named after an 11th-century Chinese weapon system, involves loading cruise missiles on pallets. The system could eventually lead to launching bigger flying cargoes—including large attack drones.

The Air Force tested the Rapid Dragon concept earlier this month at Eglin Air Force
Base in the western Florida Panhandle. The test involved loading a cruise missile flight-test vehicle and several dummy missiles aboard a pallet rigged with a .Airdropping palletized cargoes is not new to the Air Force, which literally rolls them out the back of the plane via the cargo ramp. Once the pallet exits the plane, a parachute deploys, and the pallet floats gently to Earth.