Lt. Gen. Samuel Greaves, director of the Missile Defense Agency, has described MDA’s concept of a possible space-based sensor layer intended for missile defense efforts at the Space and Missile Defense Symposium, Defense News reported Wednesday.
Greaves said MDA looks to use the U.S. Air Force’s Overhead Persistent Infrared OPIR Global Scanning system for its spaced-based missile defense sensor platform to help detect space activities and provide alerts.
A sensor layer would have a regional capability to detect and track hypersonic threats and other “dimmer†targets; a sensor that would cover a missile threat’s midcourse phase and provide fire-control capabilities; and another sensor that would track an intercept against a missile target, he said at the event.
Greaves, a 2018 Wash100 recipient, added that MDA plans to consider the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s Blackjack initiative and its potential use in the development of the sensor layer.