The sweeping new update plan will include development of a single computerized brain for all eight radar, as well as modernized front end antennas to improve detection of smaller, faster missiles, an SSC spokesperson said.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the launch of Mission Sudarshan Chakra, a plan to develop an integrated air and missile defense system for India, in his Independence Day address on August 15.
Breaking Defense Europe will launch May 4 with Tim Martin and Elisabeth Gosselin-Malo as co-editors.
“The successful live demonstration of the SPY-6(V)4 radar is a major step forward in advancing the capabilities of today’s fleet and supporting allied operations worldwide,” Barbara Borgonovi, president of Naval Power at Raytheon, said in a statement.
"Space Systems Command intends to award a second vendor, but the quantity will depend on the selected vendor’s proposal. The timing and scope of that award is subject to the outcomes of the on-going FY26 budget deliberations," Col. Rob Davis, SSC's head of Space Sensing program, told Breaking Defense.
Space Systems Command (SSC) in recent weeks has issued a flurry of contracts for the key hardware and software "thrusts" that make up the FORGE program, following a restructuring in 2023 that broke the effort into more manageable pieces.
The upgraded AN/TPY-2 radar uses a Gallium Nitride semiconductor that allows it a longer range, enabling an interceptor to launch early enough to hit a hypersonic missile before its starts maneuvering, according to the company.
Government can’t stop to update systems, so modernization has to happen without interruptions.
Breaking Defense's Seth Frantzman gives a sense of what it was like to watch Iran's ballistic missile attack on Israel.
"Missions are ramming into each other, overlapping each other. The integration challenge is large," Lt. Gen. Heath Collins said. "[S]ilos exist between services, between entities within the services, between MDA."
Mark Lewis, formerly the Pentagon's senior scientist now CEO of the Purdue Applied Research Institute (PARI), gave MDA a thumbs up for taking a new look at the concept, noting that the technology has come a long way since 2014.
Missile Defense Agency Director Lt. Gen. Heath Collins told CSIS that he is "absolutely" trying to speed development of the Glide Phase Interceptor, but that any changes must keep the program "viable."
The Sixth Domain is not defined by geography. It’s a new kind of conflict in which autonomy and networked systems allow thousand-dollar consumer electronics to destroy multi-million-dollar conventional weapons systems.
"The LRDR completed a Space Domain Awareness (SDA) data collect event in January 2024 that proved the SDA capability, and the U.S. Space Force and MDA are in the process of formally declaring LRDR ready for SDA early use in April 2024," according to MDA Director Lt. Gen. Heath Collins.
The first Lockheed Martin NGI is forecast for delivery to the warfighter as early as fiscal 2027, according to the company.
SDA 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.
Washington and Tokyo hope to nail down co-funding details for the Glide Phase Interceptor by next year, according to a Pentagon spokesperson.