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China is making remarkable progress in developing new long-range and hypersonic strike capabilities. Their chief priority is disrupting and revising the balance of power in the Indo-Pacific theater by threatening high-value targets such as overseas military bases, naval assets, and ally military assets. Such threats put at risk the vision of the United States and its allies to preserve a free and open Indo-Pacific region.
The realization of this critical risk prompted recent congressional passage of the bipartisan Pacific Defense Initiative (PDI), a clear and cohesive framework for bolstering the offense and defensive posture of U.S. and allied forces in this vital region. Specifically, the PDI is “focused on boosting missile defense, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance programs, infrastructure, prepositioned equipment and munitions, logistics, training, and exercises, as well as enhancing the capabilities of allies.” Countering adversarial hypersonic strike capabilities, enabled by the rapid integration of new and existing capabilities and the corresponding test of these capabilities with innovative commercial testing activities, is a critical focus of the initiative.
Central to a successful PDI hypersonic defense and deterrence strategy is the defense of Guam, a linchpin for U.S. power projection in the Indo-Pacific region. According current INDOPACOM commander, Admiral John Aquilino, China’s military buildup “may embolden [them] to unilaterally change the status quo before our forces may be able to deliver an effective response.” Without Guam the United States would be significantly challenged to support its armed forces, which would risk ceding the entire region to China while greatly eroding the protection of our allies. The continuous creation of a more robust deterrence architecture for Guam and for INDOPACOM writ large requires an integrated mix of new, distributed offensive and defensive capabilities – all of which individually need substantive testing to qualify and field. The importance of a national test infrastructure up to this tasking cannot be understated, and the Department of Defense knows it. Improved and upgraded test assets, rapid cadence, and the adoption of a “test often, fail fast, and learn approach” are routinely called out as staples of a successful national hypersonics developmental strategy.
We are making good progress, but we need to move even faster. The Pentagon seeks to increase testing cadence to reach one flight test per week. How will they do this? Partnerships with private sector solutions. One such example of promising innovation in this area is the Test Resource Management Center (TRMC) SkyRange program, using decommissioned Unmanned Aircraft Systems to rapidly test and field new hypersonic sensor systems, the program enables rapid clearing of the test area using autonomous aircraft, which can self-deploy within hours of the activity, vs. ships. Another example is the MACH-TB program led by the TRMC and the Naval Surface Warfare Center’s Crane Division to test, transition, and field high-speed systems on a significantly faster timeline while leveraging more commercial partners. The program’s goal is to involve non-traditional firms who don’t typically work with the DoD but bring innovative new ideas and solutions to a field generally dominated by larger defense contractors. “If we truly want to increase our operational tempo and reduce cost, we [have to] open this up to more commercial entities,” says Scott Wilson, the Navy’s developmental test lead for hypersonics and advanced capabilities. Other efforts such as the Hypersonic and High-Cadence Airborne Testing Capabilities (HyCAT) program hosted by the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) seek the same goals and are similarly leveraging non-traditional commercial partners to achieve that end.
In response to this hypersonic testing demand signal from the DoD, new commercial players are rising to the occasion, receiving a well-timed wave of private investment. Never have so many unconventional offerings from non-traditional commercial providers been available. Through programs like those above, the government is already leveraging these new approaches in test. The ability to responsively test both defensive and offensive systems, in any theater, now exists – and in many instances using the same commercial platform. Using the defense of Guam as an example and according to former INDOPACOM commander, Admiral Phil Davidson, “The most important action the Pentagon can take to increase U.S. military capability in the Pacific is to introduce a 360-degree, persistent, air and missile defense capability on Guam.” Existing commercial hypersonic flight test and sensing solutions needed to test such a system, from any direction and on-site at Guam, are now being exercised through other ongoing government test initiatives. The ability to uniquely tailor threat trajectories, precisely mimic heat and radar signatures, and rapidly repeat testing campaigns in-theater are now realities in the United States’ new arsenal of commercial test solutions. At times, they can even involve allied partnerships via Australia, Japan, and other Indo-pacific nations.
Programs like SkyRange, MACH-TB, and HyCAT, among others, indicate a promising new horizon of commercial possibilities to bring the United States back to the forefront of this critical area with both defensive and offensive implications. All government players with a stake in hypersonic test and research should use these programs as a blueprint to supercharge their own developmental timelines, with the help of unconventional commercial partners and solutions.
About the Author
Henry “Trey” Obering III is a retired U.S. Air Force lieutenant general with more than 35 years of experience in space and defense systems development, integration, and operations. He served as director of the 8,500-person Missile Defense Agency (MDA), Office of the Secretary of Defense. He was the DOD acquisition executive for the nation’s $10 billion per year missile defense portfolio and served as the program manager for the Ballistic Missile Defense System.
Prior to the MDA, he planned and programmed 68 Joint, Air Force, and international programs with a $28 billion budget as mission area director for information dominance on the Air Staff.
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