WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 08th February, 2022) The US government must drastically expand both the scale and rate of production of hypersonic weapons and defense systems, a Defense Department official said on Monday.
"We need to invest in production rates in thermal protection for glide systems and expanded production capabilities and increase the capability to double, triple and quadruple those production numbers," Joint Hypersonics Transition Office Director Gillian Bussey said at a CSIS think tank event. "That will really make a difference."
Russia and China were already working on a wide range of different propulsion systems to power future hypersonic speed weapons delivery systems, Bussey told the conference.
"They (the Russians) have gliding scram jet vehicles: There's a whole host of propulsion systems that they are working on," she said.
Bussey also said she could visualize eventually a scramjet-powered hypersonic weapon that could function as a missile defense interceptor.
