SDA’s data relay, missile tracking networks to be operational by end of 2025: Tournear

SDA’s data relay, missile tracking networks to be operational by end of 2025: Tournear
SDA’s data relay, missile tracking networks to be operational by end of 2025: Tournear

“By the end of next year, we’ll have 126 Link 16 satellites that are operational on orbit,” said SDA Director Derek Tournear.

Amid Chinese activity, new NORTHCOM chief calls for more exercises near Arctic

Amid Chinese activity, new NORTHCOM chief calls for more exercises near Arctic
Amid Chinese activity, new NORTHCOM chief calls for more exercises near Arctic

China is conducting regional maritime activities “under the cloud of a technical or scientific research, but we think it’s certainly multi-mission to include military” operations, Gen. Gregory Guillot, head of NORTHCOM/NORAD said.

SDA, MDA missile tracking demonstration payloads blast off

SDA, MDA missile tracking demonstration payloads blast off
SDA, MDA missile tracking demonstration payloads blast off

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.”

DoD needs near-term, ‘persistent’ INDOPACOM hypersonic missile tracking: CSIS

DoD needs near-term, ‘persistent’ INDOPACOM hypersonic missile tracking: CSIS
DoD needs near-term, ‘persistent’ INDOPACOM hypersonic missile tracking: CSIS

“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.”

Ursa Major takes aim at DoD solid rocket motor market

Ursa Major takes aim at DoD solid rocket motor market
Ursa Major takes aim at DoD solid rocket motor market

DoD officials and outside experts have been wringing their hands for the past year over the state of the US supply chain for solid rocket motor technology, as stocks of munitions and missile systems reliant on SRMs — such as the Army’s Javelin shoulder-mounted anti-tank weapon, Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System (GMLRS), and Stinger missiles — have been depleted by sales to Kiev.

UK launches Team Hypersonics in bid to eventually develop ‘hypersonic strike capabilities at pace’

UK launches Team Hypersonics in bid to eventually develop ‘hypersonic strike capabilities at pace’
UK launches Team Hypersonics in bid to eventually develop ‘hypersonic strike capabilities at pace’

Industry collaboration and development activities will be carried out through a Hypersonic Technologies and Capability Development Framework Agreement valued at £1 billion ($1.3 billion) over seven years.

Draft House defense policy bill would speed hypersonic missile defense interceptor

Draft House defense policy bill would speed hypersonic missile defense interceptor
Draft House defense policy bill would speed hypersonic missile defense interceptor

The draft National Space Authorization Act would also push Space Force on integrating commercial data and on over-classification of space programs.

AFRL taps Ursa Major for hypersonic, space launch engines

AFRL taps Ursa Major for hypersonic, space launch engines
AFRL taps Ursa Major for hypersonic, space launch engines

Responsive launch is enabled by the fact that Draper’s hydrogen peroxide fuel is easily storable, Ursa Major CEO Joe Laurienti told Breaking Defense, which cuts down prelaunch logistics — whereas other highly toxic liquid fuels often used to provide the high thrust needed for a missile to reach hypersonic speeds (Mach 5 and above) require special handling.

Downing of Russian missiles shows ‘profound effect’ of Ukrainians training on US systems: General

Downing of Russian missiles shows ‘profound effect’ of Ukrainians training on US systems: General
Downing of Russian missiles shows ‘profound effect’ of Ukrainians training on US systems: General

“I think about the value of training forces that never previously had a capability like that and then we provide that capability to them. And they’re able to conduct an intercept in that way,” Gen. Charles Flynn said. “To me that’s that’s the bigger issue.”

Air Force cracks open door on hypersonic ARRW, weeks after indicating it was shut

Air Force cracks open door on hypersonic ARRW, weeks after indicating it was shut
Air Force cracks open door on hypersonic ARRW, weeks after indicating it was shut

Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall told lawmakers Thursday that the service will make a decision on buying the hypersonic weapon after its prototyping phase concludes, a position seemingly at odds with testimony previously provided by the service’s acquisition lead.

STRATCOM wrapping spectrum ops center plan, as military faces bandwidth grab by 5G firms

STRATCOM wrapping spectrum ops center plan, as military faces bandwidth grab by 5G firms
STRATCOM wrapping spectrum ops center plan, as military faces bandwidth grab by 5G firms

STRATCOM’s Joint Electromagnetic Spectrum Operations Center is focused primarily on repelling threats from Russia and China, but DoD also faces a potentially crippling spectrum grab by US commercial 5G wireless giants.

Raytheon wins $250M contract to build missile warning/tracking sats to monitor Chinese launches

Raytheon wins $250M contract to build missile warning/tracking sats to monitor Chinese launches
Raytheon wins $250M contract to build missile warning/tracking sats to monitor Chinese launches

The new satellites will be integrated into SDA’s first operationally capable set of low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites, called “Tranche 1,” the SDA spokesperson explained.  

SDA hopes SABRE sensors can slash missile testing costs by ‘millions’

SDA hopes SABRE sensors can slash missile testing costs by ‘millions’
SDA hopes SABRE sensors can slash missile testing costs by ‘millions’

SDA already has a lot of interest from the Army and DoD’s testing community in its Space-Based Telemetry Monitoring, Electronic Support, and Alternative Navigation (SABRE) project.

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Every next-gen Navy ship will defend against ballistic missiles and other threats with the same radar — the SPY-6

Every next-gen Navy ship will defend against ballistic missiles and other threats with the same radar — the SPY-6
Every next-gen Navy ship will defend against ballistic missiles and other threats with the same radar — the SPY-6

The ability of the SPY-6 family of radars to meet today’s new threats is due to both its modular and scalable hardware and its software-defined backbone.