Congress presses Pentagon for defense against hypersonic missiles

Special to WorldTribune.com

Bill Gertz, Washington Free Beacon

Congress is pressing the Pentagon’s Missile Defense Agency to counter the growing threat of high-speed, maneuvering missiles.

Vice Adm. James Syring, right, is director of the Missile Defense Agency. / AP
Vice Adm. James Syring, right, is director of the Missile Defense Agency. / AP

An amendment to the current defense authorization bill passed by the House Armed Services Committee last week would require the agency to develop and fund a program to defeat hypersonic missiles. The legislation calls for creating a dedicated program to counter “hypersonic boost-glide and maneuvering ballistic missiles” that can include co-development with other agencies or nations. …

The high-technology maneuvering gliders are launched on ballistic missiles and skim the upper atmosphere at speeds of 7,500 miles per hour or greater. They then glide and maneuver toward ground targets. …

Russia carried out a flight test of its experimental Yu-71 hypersonic glider on an SS-19 intercontinental ballistic missile on April 19. Three days later, China conducted the seventh successful flight test of its new DF-ZF hypersonic glider on a missile that flew from central China to the western part of the country.

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