Space News:
WASHINGTON — Air Force Lt. Gen. Samuel Greaves, director of the Missile Defense Agency, says he has the full backing of Undersecretary of Defense for Research and Engineering Michael Griffin to move ahead with the development and testing of sensors in space that would fill blind spots in the nation’s antimissile defense system.
The Pentagon hopes to have funding approved possibly next year to begin work on a network of missile-watching satellites amid new warnings that Russia is testing hypersonic ballistic glider weapons that today would be undetectable after the initial boost phase of their flight.
Greaves calls hypersonic weapons a “real threat” that could challenge the United States as soon as five to eight years from now. But he cautioned that the Pentagon has a spotty track record developing satellite constellations and should not rush to deploy a new system until it has considerable proof that the technology works, and that cost estimates are realistic.
