Page 30 - ADT SEPTEMBER - OCTOBER 2022 Online Magazine

PROTECTIVE COVER

Aware of the need to defeat a potential hypersonic weapons attack  HYPERSONIC
by its adversaries, the U.S. has begun investing substantial funds in
the creation of a counter-hypersonic weapons ensemble. The safety
net consists of a constellation of low-orbit surveillance satellites and
a regional hypersonic interceptor, called the Glide Phase Interceptor
(GPI). GPI is capable of striking enemy boost-glide missiles while in
the final stage of their flight.

In June, the U.S. Missile Defence Agency awarded Raytheon and
Northrop Grumman contracts of approximately US$61 million each
to develop prototype GPI missiles. One of the prototypes will be
chosen for full-scale production and deployed within the Aegis
ballistic missile defence system. In September, Raytheon Missiles & five years. The change in strategy is because of
Defence, announced that it had completed the systems require-
ments review – prototype (SRR-P) for the GPI. China and Russia’s advances in hypersonic and
anti-satellite weapons. According to a study by
the US Mitchell Institute in June this year, the
The U.S. currently does not operate satellites designed to monitor current US space-based sensors lack defenses
hypersonic weapons. The SM-6 Standard missile, the Aegis system’s
latest interceptor, is the only weapon in the U.S. arsenal that has against such threats.
some capability to take on hypersonic threats, isn’t equipped to
effectively intercept such threats. In July this year, the U.S. Missile OFFENSIVE CAPABILITIES
Defence Agency announced plans to spend US$1.3 billion on the
development of advanced satellites that will be designed to track Even as it builds an effective system to defend
hypersonic weapons, with L3Harris Technologies (US$700 million) against the threat of hypersonic missiles, the
and Northrop Grumman Strategic Space Systems (being the primary U.S. is also working on weapons of its own. The
contractors. According to Derek Tournear, director of the Space U.S. Air Force’s Air-Launched Rapid Response
Development Agency (SDA), the new satellites would enable the Weapon (ARRW) system, slated to be the first
U.S. to detect and track hypersonic missiles, predict where they are deployed U.S. hypersonic weapon, had two con-
headed, and provide data to friendly forces to launch interceptor secutive successful flight tests in May and July
missiles. The companies will produce prototype 14 satellites each this year. After the successful test of Operational
for the Tranche 1 Tracking Layer, which will eventually consist of Fires (OpFires), a hypersonic boost-glide weap-
hundreds of satellites in a low-earth orbit (LEO) constellation. The ons system, in May this year, the Defence
launch of the satellites is scheduled to begin in 2025. Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)
successfully tested Operational Fires (OpFires),
a hypersonic boost-glide weapons system. The
agency in July announced that the testing of
the Hypersonic Air-Breathing Weapon Concept
(HAWC), an air-launched hypersonic cruise mis-
sile, was a success. While the July test featured
Raytheon Technologies’ version of the vehicle,
Lockheed Martin tested its version of the HAWC
system in March.

COOPERATIVE EFFORT

In April this year, the United States, UK. and
Australia announced that they would coop-
erate on hypersonic weapons and electronic
warfare capabilities. Since 2020, the U.S. and
Australia are working on a hypersonic weapon
Currently, U.S. space-based missile defence sensors rely on a large,
expensive satellites that stay in orbit for 15 or more years. The SDA programme called Southern Cross Integrated
intends to replace the existing system with a two-tiered system Flight Research Experiment (SCIFiRE) to develop
operating in low-earth (LEO) orbit at 1,000 kilometers and medi- the Hypersonic Attack Cruise Missile (HACM),
um-earth orbit (MEO) at 10,000 to 20,000 kilometers. Replacing the an air-launched standoff weapon that can
expensive satellites will be cheaper ones that can be replaced every hit high-value targets in contested environ-
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