That means aircraft carriers, the linchpin of America's ability to project force abroad, would be vulnerable to hypersonic weapons, severely limiting where they could operate.
But at the Association of the U.S. Army conference earlier this month, Tim Cahill, vice president of air and missile defense at Lockheed, said some of its existing systems like THAAD and Aegis "have a lot of capability right now against" hypersonic targets even though they weren't designed to take out those types of weapons.
The company is working on enhancements, like improving radars and command and control systems. But existing systems still have areas that minor adjustments won't address. While Cahill wouldn't give a specific timeline, he acknowledged a need for larger modifications that will take years to complete.
"With something as disruptive as hypersonics, all services will have to rethink how they do business," said Fred Kennedy, director of the tactical technology office at the Pentagon's secretive Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa).
But for now, the U.S. doesn't have an operational boost-phase defense system.
On the flip side, America's adversaries would be unable to defend against hypersonic weapons screaming toward them, making them optimal in time-critical situations.
If the U.S. saw North Korea or another hostile power readying a missile for launch, an American hypersonic weapon could be quickly deployed and take out the missile before it took off, Zacharias says.my
Hypersonic Weapons for ballistic attacks unstoppable type.
Reviewed by Gurusaine.com
on
October 20, 2017
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Reviewed by Gurusaine.com
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October 20, 2017
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