The U.S. Defense Department plans to invest billions of dollars to begin mass-producing a new class of hypersonic missiles, a senior defense official said March 4.

The U.S. Missile Defense Agency is close to launching the competitive phase for the Next Generation Interceptor program, said Vice Adm. Jon Hill, the agency’s director, on March 4. 

The Regional Glide Phase Weapon System—a concept for an interceptor against a hypersonic glide vehicle—will be initially constrained to a ship launch application with a Mk. 41 vertical launch system, Missile Defense Agency (MDA) Director Vice Adm. Jon Hill said March 4.

The U.S. Defense Department’s acquisition leadership has set up a “war room” in the Pentagon to assess the industrial base for hypersonic weapons ahead of a planned production ramp-up within a few years. 

The U.S. Army will “very soon” demonstrate a ground-launched ballistic missile with a range greater than 500 km, the previous limit set by a now-defunct arms control treaty, Gen. Mike Murray said on March 4. 

U.S. defense officials are considering a “broad set” of scramjet-powered, hypersonic cruise missiles as the U.S. Air Force focuses in the near term on preparing a follow-on program to DARPA's Hypersonic Air-breathing Weapon Concept. 

Britain is to develop a new nuclear warhead with the U.S. to arm its submarine-based deterrent.

The U.S. Air Force terminated one of two hypersonic missile prototypes a year before a planned decision point to divert funding for other priorities and preserve funding for the more advanced high-speed missile, the top acquisition official said Feb. 28.