The Missile Defense Agency of the US Department of Defense has published an application for the development of the latest technologies that can withstand hypersonic weapons.

With their help, it is planned to improve the American missile defense system.

"The US Missile Defense Agency is looking for innovative concepts designed to provide affordable, reliable, highly effective and powerful protection against systems that pose a hypersonic threat on a regional scale during the gliding flight, as well as from other advanced weapons," the document says. the text of which was read by RT.

As noted, the agency aims to obtain concepts that provide for the provision of operational capabilities to detect, track and defeat enemy weapons during an attack.

Industrial enterprises, colleges, universities and non-profit organizations will be able to take part in the project.

The application emphasizes that the United States government is committed to supporting the continuous development, production, modernization and modification of hypersonic technology.

According to the US military, it is necessary to reduce restrictions on intellectual property rights, which require costs from the authorities.

In this regard, the project participants will be required to provide Washington with the right to use their developments.

As follows from the document, the Pentagon is primarily interested in proposals regarding the creation of an interceptor during the gliding flight (Glide Phase Interceptor, GPI).

This is a component of anti-hypersonic defense, which provides for the accelerated creation of the necessary protection against advanced threats, military experts explain.

Back in February, it became known about the decision of the Anti-Ballistic Missile Agency to redirect resources to this particular weapon.

The program for its creation replaced the previously announced project RPGW (Regional Glide Phase Weapon).

According to American media reports, the agency's budget for the 2021 fiscal year allocated to RPGW was $ 127 million, and it was planned to spend $ 272 million on protection against hypersonic weapons.

The development of the new sea-based GPI interceptor is scheduled to be completed in the late 2020s.

The system will use the information generated by the RGPW program and the Aegis platform.

“For the development and production of an interceptor during the planning phase of the flight, the US Missile Defense Agency will use anti-missile defense (interceptors, sensors, command and control systems for command and control) in various areas to effectively defend against the growing threats posed by ballistic, hypersonic and regional-range cruise missiles, ”said Mark Wright, a spokesman for the Anti-Ballistic Missile Agency, about the plans.

  • American anti-missile complex THAAD

  • Reuters

  • © US Army / Capt.

    Adan cazarez

Distant perspectives

As Vladimir Batyuk, head of the Center for Military-Political Studies of the Institute of the USA and Canada of the Russian Academy of Sciences, recalled in a conversation with RT, at the moment the United States has not presented its weapons based on hypersonic technologies.

“In this area, the US arms race is now lagging behind Russia.

In Russia, both air and sea-based systems are already entering service, and in the United States, research and development work is still underway with varying success.

It is not yet clear what the results will be, ”the expert said.

The desire of the United States to modernize the missile defense system is primarily associated with the emergence of the latest Russian hypersonic systems, which are viewed in Washington as a "threat" to the American armed forces, the analyst said.

At the same time, assessing Washington's statement on the completion of the creation of protection systems by the end of the 2020s, Batyuk expressed doubt and noted that it was too early to talk about exact dates.

“There are too many unknowns in this equation, from the funding of this program to the success that American systems engineers will be able to achieve.

Everything is very unpredictable, ”he added.

Meanwhile, Alexei Podberezkin, director of the MGIMO Center for Military-Political Research, suggested that it would take at least five years to design a missile defense system capable of interfering with Russian weapons, in particular the Zircon hypersonic missile.

“In five years, the Americans will probably start development work on this topic, but not earlier.

Until then, the Zircon will be the ultimate weapon against the US Navy for a while.

He has the unique ability to deliver high-precision strikes, especially against naval targets.

In general, these weapons are intended for the destruction of naval vessels, that is, in an area where American superiority has been created for years.

The Russian complex nullifies these achievements, ”he commented.

  • The first launch of the Zircon hypersonic missile from the frigate Admiral Gorshkov in the White Sea against a sea target in the Barents Sea

  • RIA News

  • © Ministry of Defense of Russia

In the role of catch-up

However, in the United States itself, the lag behind other countries in the field of hypersound is not denied.

The US Air Force conducted the first flight test of such a weapon on April 6, but it ended in failure.

According to the US Air Force, the launch vehicle failed to launch due to technical problems.

As analysts from the Accounts Chamber explained in March, the Pentagon still does not have sufficiently developed technologies necessary to create hypersonic weapons.

As a consequence, this will increase the time before the deployment of ready-made combat systems.

According to auditors, for projects to produce "workable hypersonic weapons systems" have been set deadlines that "will not be easy to meet."

The Pentagon, meanwhile, announced its intention to accelerate the development of weapons and means of protection, in particular due to the activities of "competitors" - Russia and China.

These countries allegedly endanger US forces in the air, on land, at sea and in space, said Mike White, the senior director of the hypersonic weapons program of the control of the United States Deputy Secretary of Defense for Scientific and Technical Development.

Note that, despite Washington's statements, Russian weapons are not a "threat", but serve to defend and maintain a strategic balance.

According to Russian President Vladimir Putin, Russia is not going to fight with anyone and creates a situation in which other countries have no intentions to unleash an armed conflict with Moscow.

“Having created these modern complexes, including complexes that easily overcome any missile defense system, we maintain this strategic stability and strategic balance.

This is fundamentally important not only for us, but also for international security, ”Putin said in an interview with TASS.

In addition, the president said last year that Russia is working on an "antidote" to future hypersonic weapons, which may appear in other leading armies in the world.

The Russian Federation also continues to modernize existing hypersonic weapons.

Aleksandr Leonov, General Designer of the NPO Mashinostroyenia military-industrial complex, explained that on the basis of the Avangard, Zircon and Dagger complexes, it is planned to create a “whole chain of systems” that will surpass the first generation weapons in a number of parameters.

According to analyst Vladimir Batyuk, in the future the list of countries with hypersonic technology may expand, which will require improvement, including of protection systems against them.

“Hypersonic systems are a trend; not only the Russian Federation and the USA, but also China are engaged in their development.

Obviously, other countries will follow the example of the three great military powers.

So in any foreseeable future, hypersonic weapons will be with us.

This means that attempts will be made to develop countermeasures in the future, ”he concluded.