Missile defense

Pentagon to Deploy Satellites Capable of Detecting Russian Hypersonic Missiles

The decision was motivated by the ongoing successful development of hypersonic glide vehicles (HGV) by Russia and China that are capable of manoeuvring mid-flight, making their trajectory unpredictable for missile defences and thus rendering them useless.

US Undersecretary of Defence for Policy John Rood has announced that the Pentagon is planning to start deploying "lower cost sensors" to low Earth orbit that are capable of detecting hypersonic missile launches and tracking them. The announcement was made during a hearing at the US Senate Committee on Armed Services, where Rood responded to questions about how the US would be countering hypersonic weapons.