Sensors that "see everything" should be the goal of DoD missile-defense strategy, general says
NewsAugust 12, 2021
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. Sensors placed in space that are able to track and detect advanced cruise missiles -- particularly hypersonic missiles -- should be a priority for the U.S. Department of Defense, stated Gen John Hyten, Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, during an August 11 speech at the Space and Missile Defense Symposium held in Hunstville, Alabama.
"I would like to have overhead sensors that see everything, characterize everything that goes on on this planet, from a missile perspective, all the time, everywhere," Hyten said. "That's the one capability I would like to have because you have to be able to see it to do anything about it. And that's a challenge for hypersonics and cruise missiles; that's a challenge for short range; that's a challenge for ballistics; that's a challenge for everything that we have."
As reported by the DoD news service, the general noted that the sensor technology has been available for a number of years. "We have to get there, and we should be able to get there quickly because that technology is not difficult. In this case, it's a bureaucratic challenge more than anything else, but I'd love to have that sensor capability but we need that space layer," Hyten said. He also told the attendees that the Missile Defense Agency and Space Development Agency are currently working on a space layer architecture.
General Hyten is scheduled to retire from the U.S. military in November 2021.
