Missile Defense Agency might have the Answer to Chinese Hypersonic Missiles
The always excellent “Warzone” on “The Drive”.
Remember, the hypersonic missiles get up to speed(Mach 5) and then release the glider, which is a “Hyper-Maneuvering” vehicle. The maneuvering is what makes them hard to hit. And almost certainly, the booster turns into chaffing and flares to confuse the tracking. There are also considerations concerning ammunition.
Will our ships have enough ammo to hit the decoy threats and real threats?
I was told we also developed some bad ass tech to boost the systems we already have. Which, reportedly don’t work.
But I was told they do. By some science guys who work for science R&D on science stuff.
Down by the river half past the hour.
The Article from The Drive.
The Missile Defense Agency, or MDA, has offered a glimpse into how it plans to spot, track, and intercept hypersonic boost-glide vehicles, or HGVs, in a new animated video presentation recently posted online. The animation lays out, step-by-step, its latest “multi-layered solution to defend against the next generation of hypersonic glide vehicles.” Most notably, this animation offers a new look into how it will integrate the Glide Phase Interceptor, or GPI, a still-in-development weapon aimed at defeating HGV threats in the glide phase of their trajectories, into this larger concept of operations.
The new video depicting this system, titled “MDA Concept for Regional Hypersonic Missile Defense: Technology to Defeat the Threat,” describes MDA’s plans “to protect the US, its deployed forces, and allies against regional hypersonic threats using a multi-layered solution to defend against the next generation of hypersonic glide vehicles,” according to the video’s description. The MDA’s current concept for a Regional Hypersonic Missile Defense system combines Aegis Combat System-equipped surface vessels with both space-based and ground-based sensor systems, and ties them together with various integrated fire control and sensor fusion networks. The aforementioned GPI, along with the increasingly capable Standard Missile 6 (SM-6), a multi-purpose weapon that already has the ability to engage certain ballistic missiles in the terminal stage of their flight, would then be used to prosecute the incoming HGVs.
The new video depicting this system, titled “MDA Concept for Regional Hypersonic Missile Defense: Technology to Defeat the Threat,” describes MDA’s plans “to protect the US, its deployed forces, and allies against regional hypersonic threats using a multi-layered solution to defend against the next generation of hypersonic glide vehicles,” according to the video’s description. The MDA’s current concept for a Regional Hypersonic Missile Defense system combines Aegis Combat System-equipped surface vessels with both space-based and ground-based sensor systems, and ties them together with various integrated fire control and sensor fusion networks. The aforementioned GPI, along with the increasingly capable Standard Missile 6 (SM-6), a multi-purpose weapon that already has the ability to engage certain ballistic missiles in the terminal stage of their flight, would then be used to prosecute the incoming HGVs.
MDA
A screengrab from the recently released Missile Defense Agency video presentation on its Regional Hypersonic Missile Defense concept.
Missile defense is a complicated proposition, to begin with, but attempting to intercept HGVs presents unique challenges. Hypersonic boost-glide vehicles are unpowered and typically use a rocket booster to get to a desired speed and altitude. The vehicle is then released from the rest of the weapon and comes gliding back down along an atmospheric trajectory toward its target at hypersonic speeds, defined as anything about Mach 5.
While not all HGVs are designed in exactly the same way, they are all, at their core, designed to be able to make sudden and unpredictable movements along their flight paths, especially when compared to the trajectories followed by traditional ballistic missiles, even those that feature maneuverable reentry vehicles. This maneuverability, combined with their high speed and general flight profile, makes it extremely hard to spot and track them, especially with sensors designed with more typical ballistic missiles in mind. This, in turn, shortens the available window a defender has to react in any way, whether it be an attempt to intercept the incoming vehicles, or simply trying to move critical assets out of harm’s way or otherwise seeking cover.
GAO
A very rudimentary graphic showing a notional HGV flight profile compared to that of a traditional ballistic missile. The flight path of a low-flying air-breathing hypersonic cruise missile is also shown for comparison.
In addition to a brief introduction to the components of the hypersonic defense concept, the MDA video starts by graphically showing the difficulties associated with detecting and tracking incoming HGVs, let alone trying to swat them down, with a scenario involving one of these weapons launched at an aircraft carrier. The HGV is shown flying under a cone representing the typical area that applicable radars on U.S. Navy Arleigh Burke class destroyers will search when operating in the ballistic missile defense role.
MDA
A screengrab from the recently released MDA video showing how an Aegis-equipped Arleigh Burke class destroyer operating in the ballistic missile defense role typically detects and tracks targets compared to the flight profile of a hypersonic boost-glide vehicle.
The video then continues to describe how the planned hypersonic defense concept would change a similar scenario involving the launch of four HGVs. MDA walks through each step of their proposed multi-layered defense concept in the video.
In the video, two space-based sensors from the Hypersonic and Ballistic Tracking Space Sensor (HBTSS) constellation detect the launches and track the HGVs while they’re still attached to their boosters and flying along a more typical ballistic trajectory. Those sensors then continue to track the HGVs after they separate, providing a “fire control-quality track” for subsequent intercept attempts.
In 2019, MDA kicked off a competition to build these missile defense satellites when it awarded initial development contracts to four companies, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon, Leidos, and L3Harris. In January, it picked Northrop Grumman and L3Harris to move onto the next phase. The goal in the past has been to have the first HBTSS satellite deployed in 2023. It’s not clear how many total satellites are now expected to form the HBTSS constellation, which is just one of the myriad planned space-based early warning and missile d
In the video, two space-based sensors from the Hypersonic and Ballistic Tracking Space Sensor (HBTSS) constellation detect the launches and track the HGVs while they’re still attached to their boosters and flying along a more typical ballistic trajectory. Those sensors then continue to track the HGVs after they separate, providing a “fire control-quality track” for subsequent intercept attempts.
In 2019, MDA kicked off a competition to build these missile defense satellites when it awarded initial development contracts to four companies, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon, Leidos, and L3Harris. In January, it picked Northrop Grumman and L3Harris to move onto the next phase. The goal in the past has been to have the first HBTSS satellite deployed in 2023. It’s not clear how many total satellites are now expected to form the HBTSS constellation, which is just one of the myriad planned space-based early warning and missile d