Lockheed Martin is hoping that the maturing threat of hypersonic re-entry vehicles from ambitious adversaries will spark interest in the company’s dormant plan to design a more powerful booster for the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (Thaad) air defense system.
China last month confirmed it conducted what officials there say was the third test of a hypersonic strike vehicle that U.S. officials worry could outsmart its defenses. The U.S. has spent well more than $100 billion on various missile defenses to perfect hit-to-kill technology and improve connectivity among disparate systems fielded for protection against air-breathing and ballistic missile threats. The Army plans to field at least six Thaad batteries; the $3.8 billion program was designed to field an area defense system capable of interceptors both inside the atmosphere and in the low regions of space.
Development of offensive hypersonic systems is "one of the key reasons" that a Thaad-ER (extended range) missile should be considered for introduction into the Pentagon arsenal, says Mike Trotsky, vice president of air and missile defense for Lockheed Martin, which produces Thaad.
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