The links below provide the same information, but I’m enclosing both of them to document that multiple sources are covering this story. I did a post on the X-37B earlier this year after it was launched into space for what was then to be a 270-day mission. Its mission has now been extended indefinitely. This confirms that the X-37B has a mission capability far beyond the originally stated mission duration.
The X-37B is a very “secretive” space weapons system, and its actual capabilities are not known. However, allow me to do some speculating regarding its mission and its capabilities. The links speculate that the X-37B is designed to “disable foreign satellites or drop bombs as it makes its way around the earth.” I have little doubt that it can do both of these things. One obvious question is whether it can drop nuclear weaponry as well as conventional weaponry from its high vantage point in space. It would seem technologically easy for it to do both.
Since it is known that China can already shoot down satellites (and Russia likely can do so as well), the X-37B has to have state-of-the-art defensive weaponry to shoot down any missile or kinetic interceptor sent to hit it. Given that the USA has been developing laser/plasma-ray technology for decades, I’d be surprised if the X-37B does not have such a defensive (and offensive) capability. Surely, it has all of its systems “hardened” against an EMP blast that could be detonated anywhere near enough to disable its components.
Offensively, the X-37B likely has the ability to shoot down enemy satellites or ballistic missiles either with an internal laser weapon or with kinetic interceptors fired at enemy targets. Besides enemy satellites (which would be “sitting ducks” for the X-37B), the X-37B’s offensive weaponry surely includes the ability to target and destroy enemy ballistic missiles in either their boost or near-space trajectory phases. Previous posts on this blog have warned about China’s new ballistic missiles which have been developed specifically to fire at and sink US aircraft carriers. The X-37B is likely a counter weapon to China’s (or anyone else’s) ballistic missiles which could be fired at US aircraft carriers or at the US homeland.
We do not know how fast the X-37B can travel to a world trouble spot or how quickly it can be deployed to a world trouble spot to intercept ballistic missiles fired at deployed US carriers, the US homeland or at our allies. The USA (and other nations) have been developing hypersonic propulsion systems to make missiles and other weapons system travel far faster than anything previously deployed. Perhaps the X-37B can travel at hypersonic speeds when needed to shoot down enemy ballistic missiles as soon as they are launched or to “nuke” enemy sites if such a need develops. Given that the X-37B is unmanned, it can go far faster than manned warplanes or spacecraft which are limited by the capabilities of the human body to survive the G-forces which would be created by hypersonic acceleration and flight. Therefore, the fact that it is unmanned increases the likelihood that it is designed for hypersonic speeds when needed.
The links mention the X-37B now deployed above the earth is “vehicle-2” in the X-37B program. Is this just a prototype or is it an operational vehicle? Consider that there are major trouble spots on the earth now where war could break out soon. Will Iran fire missiles at Israel? Will a wider Mideast War break out? Will a regional war develop between China and a variety of other nations over China’s very provocative effort to claim all the South China Sea for itself? That this X-37B has had its mission extended at a time when a major crisis is possible in more than one area of the earth argues that this X-37B has operational capacities that might be needed if a war breaks out.
How many X-37Bs will be built? No one knows. Indeed, no one knows how many have already been built. One last speculation: I wonder if the X-37B has any “invisibility” technology built into it so it can “cloak” itself when it goes into action. The USA and other nations have been working on invisibility/cloaking technologies for years, and previous posts at this blog sites have examined the progress of this technology (you can use the search box on my blog to search for previous posts on the subject of “invisibility” weaponry).
One biblical prophecy could possibly be fulfilled by the X-37B in the future. Ezekiel 38-39 describe the alliances of the Gog-Magog nations and their targeted enemies—modern nations descended from the ten tribes of Israel and their allies. Ezekiel 39:3 prophesies that some of the “bows” and “arrows” of the attacking Gog-Magog alliance will be destroyed. “Bows” and “arrows” in ancient times were the long-distance “missiles” and “missile-launchers” of their time. In modern times, our “arrows” are ICBMS, cruise missiles, etc. and the “bows” are the weapons platforms that launch them. While God can easily fulfill this prophecy on his own or have righteous angels (“light-beings” in New Age parlance) knock missiles out of the skies or outer space, God often fulfills his prophecies by working through mankind’s actions. If so, this would indicate the nations of the modern ten tribes of Israel (of which the USA is the most powerful) will have defensive weapons systems which can knock down the missiles fired by the Gog-Magog alliance and destroy their launchers as well. The X-37B can likely accomplish both missions in the future.
http://www.dailytech.com/Secretive+X37B+Robotic+Space+Plane+Receives+Prolonged+Mission/article23403.htm
