MDA Chief Lt. Gen. Heath Collins said more maneuverable missiles and drones have changed the missile defense game: Instead of just preparing to hit “fastballs,” he said, “now we’re hitting sliders and curveballs.”
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.With a max value of $4.1 billion over five to 10 years, the C2BMC-Next contract will upgrade the global missile defense system to tap new satellite feeds, track hypersonic and cruise missiles, and employ AI — all potential building blocks of a future CJADC2 meta-network.
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.The agencies said in their joint announcement that the “launch of the two prototype systems will be followed by two years of on-orbit testing.”
By Theresa HitchensAn SDA official explained that the six “preliminary fire control” satellites in Tracking Layer Tranche 2 will carry a mix of wide-field-of-view and medium-field-of-view infrared cameras.
By Theresa Hitchens“The key word here is persistence,” study author Masao Dahlgren told Breaking Defense. “How do we get persistence over the regions we care about? That hasn’t been as explicitly put into prior work until now. This report puts into sharp relief.”
By Theresa HitchensThe Defense Business Board study, however, recommends against folding the NRO and MDA into the Space Force.
By Theresa HitchensUnder its Glide Breaker project, DARPA wants to develop a prototype kill vehicle to intercept incoming hypersonic vehicles in their glide phase, before they begin high-speed maneuvers.
By Theresa HitchensSDA plans to purchase and deploy a minimum of 54 space vehicles equipped with infrared sensors from up to three vendors under the new solicitation for Tranche 2 of its Tracking Layer constellation.
By Theresa HitchensWashington and Tokyo hope to nail down co-funding details for the Glide Phase Interceptor by next year, according to a Pentagon spokesperson.
By Theresa Hitchens