Aerospace & Defense Roundup: Jun. 22

Lawmakers Want USN To Speed Up Hypersonic Missile For DDG 1000

DDG-1000 Credit: U.S. NavyA panel of U.S. lawmakers wants the U.S. Navy to start integrating a hypersonic missile on the Zumwalt-class DDG 1000 destroyer fleet next year. The markup report released on June 21 by the House Armed Services subcommittee on Strategic Forces includes the requirement for what the panel calls the “Conventional Prompt Global Strike” program.

Japan Reportedly Considers Pontoon Basing For Aegis

The experimental pontoon with a runway built in Tokyo Bay in 2020. Credit: MHIJapan is considering installing at least one Aegis system on a pontoon, following the decision on June 15 to halt a program to build two batteries on shore, the Jiji news agency reports. A further possibility, previously raised by Defense Minister Kono Taro, is building more Aegis destroyers.

U.S. Lawmakers Seek MDA Reorg, Criticize Airborne Laser Cuts

U.S. Capitol Credit: U.S. GovernmentFrustrated by declining funding for advanced technology programs, a key U.S. House of Representatives subcommittee hinted on June 21 that control of the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) could be stripped from the Pentagon’s Research and Engineering (R&E) branch led by Undersecretary Michael Griffin.

Startup Eyes Edge-Of-Space Commercial Balloon Flight

High-altitude balloon Credit: Space PerspectiveStartup Space Perspective is looking to early 2021 to begin test flights of a high-altitude balloon with a pressurized capsule from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC), with an eye toward carrying commercial passengers and research payloads.

The Weekly Debrief: LCAATs And Kittens - Exploring The Promise Of Attritable UAVs

XQ-58A Credit: KratosManned-unmanned teaming is the future of air combat, and maybe not so far away. The next generation of manned fighters—Next Generation Air Dominance in the U.S.; Future Combat Air System in France, Germany and Spain; and Team Tempest by Italy, Sweden and the UK—may not be defined until the end of the decade.

U.S. GovernmentU.S. Capitol

NATONATO flag.

Virgin Galactic To Train Private Astronauts For ISS

ISS Credit: NASAUnder a Space Act Agreement with NASA, space company Virgin Galactic is to develop a training program for private astronaut missions to the International Space Station (ISS).