The agency pointed to Russian and Chinese claims of advances in the technology
The US Missile Defense Agency (BMD) has requested $247.9 million for fiscal year 2022 to develop defenses against hypersonic weapons, as Russia and China have claimed advances in the technology. This was reported by the Jane’s Information and Analysis Center.
The Missile Defense Agency said the funding would mainly go towards the project to develop an anti-missile (AM) to intercept GPI (Glide Phase Interceptor) gliding hypersonic warheads (GBIs). The project involves “developing an echeloned defensive architecture to address regional hypersonic threats from any country and the application of sensors for long-range detection, identification and tracking of regional and strategic hypersonic attack targets.
According to the ABM Agency’s budget documents, this includes accelerating “development to rapidly demonstrate defensive capability in the planning area of regional hypersonic targets using the Aegis system.”
“The PR for intercepting planning hypersonic BCs is the majority of the $247.9 million requested”, – said Michelle Atkinson, the agency’s director of missile defense operations. She added that the funding also includes design and planning for future target testing.
The GPI PR has its origins in a project formerly called the RGPWS (Regional Glide Phase Weapons System) hypersonic protection system, which in turn was intended to develop the former defensive weapons system to defend against hypersonic attacking targets.
An expanded ABM Agency statement issued on 12 April outlined requirements for concepts for a prototype PR GPI with a kinetic energy destruction mechanism and its integration with the Aegis Vertical Launch Vehicle (VLV) Mk 41 weapon system. The Missile Defense Agency said this work on the prototype will culminate in a flight test from the Pacific Missile Range on the island of Kauai, Hawaii.
The Aegis system already has escort, launch on command from a remote location, and intercept capabilities. Agency missile defense experts believed the GPI could fit nicely into this design, agency director Vice Adm. John Hill said May 28.
The gliding hypersonic craft travel at or faster than M=5 and can also maneuver, which is a more challenging target than a ballistic missile following a design trajectory. The ability to detect and make radar contact with a maneuvering target at hypersonic speed is a problem in itself and must be resolved before hypersonic target intercept can occur.