Air Force Magazine:
The US must use space-based sensors to protect itself from the increasing threat of hypersonic weapons, said top Pentagon leaders and the head of the Missile Defense Agency on Tuesday.
The current US missile defense system meets today’s threat, but the Missile Defense Agency needs additional developments and investment to “get ahead,” MDA boss USAF Lt. Gen. Samuel Greaves said at a Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance event in Washington, D.C. There is developing momentum and interest in a space-based sensor layer as the need to prepare for great power competition under the National Defense Strategy grows, he said.
To protect from hypersonic threats, the US needs a sensor architecture that can watch the Earth in areas that are currently denied, and do so in real-time, Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering Michael Griffin said.
