Lockheed Martin, the defense company behind the Joint Strike Fighter, won a contract worth as much as $928 million to develop an Air Force missile that can fly five times faster than the speed of sound.
The air-launched weapon is part of the U.S. effort to catch up to countries such as China and Russia in so-called hypersonics, missiles capable of speeds of Mach 5 or higher, while honing America’s edge in military technology.
Hypersonics are among an array of state-of-the-art equipment in which the U.S. faces a 21st-century arms race, according to a strategy outlined by Defense Secretary Jim Mattis in January. Developing the weapons, along with capabilities such as robotics, directed energy or lasers and biotechnology, is vital to “ensure we will be able to fight and win the wars of the future,” he wrote.
The U.S. government’s concerns about military readiness were heightened earlier this year when Russian President Vladimir Putin bragged about the creation of new strategic nuclear weapons systems including a maneuverable hypersonic glider that he said could pierce U.S. defenses.
Adversaries are investing heavily in such weapons with the goal of deploying them in “the next few years,” Air Force Gen. John Hyten of U.S. Strategic Command told the Senate Armed Services Committee in March “We need to prioritize and accelerate development if we are to field our own capability in the near term.
The hypersonic contract awarded to Lockheed, which has flown more of the missiles than any other U.S. company, covers stages of development from design through flight testing and early operational capability. Primary work sites will be in Huntsville, Ala; Valley Forge, Pa.; and Orlando, Fla.
“Our goal is rapid development and fielding,” said John Snyder, the company’s vice president of Air Force Strategic Programs, “and this contract is the first step in achieving that goal.”
