“Let’s think creatively” for hypersonic defense

As lawmakers pressure the Pentagon to speed up development of a new missile defense system intended to intercept hypersonic weapons, the Missile Defense Agency should focus now on developing more DIY solutions immediate and not rush to deploy the most advanced weapon, suggested its director. June 6.

The Glide Phase interceptor under development “is a system designed end-to-end to counter threats starting in 2035, not today,” Air Force Lt. Gen. Heath A. Collins said during an event at the Center for Strategic and International. Studies. Yet there is growing concern about the hypersonic capabilities of China and Russia: Russia used hypersonic weapons in its war with Ukraine, and a 2023 Defense Department report described China as possessing the first weapon hypersonic in the world. In response, Congress late last year passed a provision requiring the GPI to reach initial operational capability by 2029.

MDA's budget documents don't even project delivery of the interceptor to begin until 2035. And Collins, who was previously in charge of the Air Force's weapons program, seems less interested in trying to accelerate the program than to find another solution. .

“This is an important program to get us where we need to go, but it’s going to take time,” Collins said. “But to bring this long-term capability to hypersonic combat, we've been tasked with thinking creatively and bringing this capability sooner: 2029, '30. And that's really going to require perhaps a different style of thinking than the traditional “start a new weapon.” It will most likely be a weapon that already exists today. What can we do to get the most out of it?

The Pentagon already has a variety of interceptors, from the THAAD to the Aegis to the SM-6 to the ground-based interceptor. Collins offered some clues that, if anything, could be used for hypersonic defense.

“We have to sharpen our pencils,” he said. “I was the arms buyer for the Air Force. There are other things that are purchased by other agencies. Can any of them be used?

Whatever MDA decides, it likely won't be perfect or capable of dealing with all threats, Collins added. But it could be crucial given the pressing danger.

“Hypersonic weapons are being used today,” he warned. “And our threat inventory will grow in the years to come. »

At the same time, Collins said he was not opposed to rapidly evolving the GPI, provided it remained “fundamentally viable.”

“I could pretend we're going to do it in 2028 and skip all the testing, and then I'd be a case study at an acquisition school,” he said. “So I want to increase that number as quickly as possible.”

The United States and Japan are collaborating on the GPI and signed a formal agreement last month that will help reduce costs for the Pentagon. Japan will lead the development of rocket engines and propulsion components, with Breaking Defense reporting last week that the Defense Ministry plans to award a contract by March 2025.

Collins also provided an update on MDA's work to detect and track hypersonic launches through its hypersonic and ballistic tracking space sensor prototyping program. In February, MDA and the Space Development Agency worked together to launch a batch of missile tracking satellites into low Earth orbit, including MDA's HBTSS spacecraft and SDA's Tracking Layer spacecraft, and Collins said that MDA satellites should begin their calibration on the hypersonic test bench within a week. .

The test will include “monitoring these two sensors and looking at their performance and how they could potentially close the fire control loop,” Collins explained.

Another calibration flight will follow later this year, he added.