Pentagon to Have Counter Hypersonic Missile Capability by 2025

The Pentagon wants to upgrade the sea-based terminal (SBT) capability equipped on Aegis warships, to provide the ability to counter hypersonic missiles, within two years.

“Russia and China continued to aggressively pursue and field a number of advanced capabilities, including hypersonic weapons and delivery platforms designed to evade detection across multiple domains and strike targets anywhere on the globe, including North America,” Air Force Gen. Glen D. VanHerck said yesterday.

He was testifying before the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Strategic Forces hearing regarding the fiscal year 2024 defense authorization request and the Future Years Defense Program.

"Hypersonic weapons are extremely difficult to detect and counter given the weapons' speed and maneuverability, low flight paths and unpredictable trajectories," he said. “Hypersonic weapons challenge NORAD's ability to provide threat warning and attack assessments for Canada and the United States.”

Navy Vice Adm. Jon A. Hill, director of the Missile Defense Agency, testified that countering hypersonic weapons is a challenge now and for the future.

To meet the hypersonic defense challenge, the Defense Department has integrated tracking capabilities between existing space-, ground- and sea-based radars, he said.

Today's sensor architecture and command and control can track hypersonic threats to support warnings and domain awareness. Aegis ships equipped with the sea-based terminal (SBT) capability can now engage some hypersonic threats in the latter part of the missile's flight path, called the terminal phase.

The Space Force and the Missile Defense Agency are co-developing hypersonic ballistic tracking from space, he said.

Later this year, hypersonic and ballistic-tracking, space-sensor satellites will demonstrate tracking and targeting to support hypersonic engagements. Those satellites will participate in flight tests and real-world threat collections throughout fiscal year 2024, he said.

The agency is working closely with the Navy to upgrade its sea-based terminal defenses to counter more advanced maneuvering and hypersonic threats. "Based on the threat evolution, we will deliver the next SBT incremental upgrade in 2025," Hill said.

"Aegis SBT is the only active defense available today to counter hypersonic missile threats," he added.

In order to expand the battlespace against hypersonic threats, the agency has initiated the Aegis Glide Phase Interceptor program. That program uses proven Aegis weapon system engage-on-remote network sensors to provide the depth of fire needed for terminal defenses, he said.