Vice Adm. Johnny Wolfe, director of the U.S. Navy’s Strategic Systems Programs, said that a program office has been established to help the service develop hypersonic strike capabilities, USNI News reported.
Earlier this month, Wolfe spoke at the 2018 Naval Submarine League symposium. He told attendees he has set up a program office within the SSP to develop hypersonic weapons, which will eventually be part of the U.S. military’s conventional global strike arsenal. Through the conventional prompt global strike effort, the U.S. military seeks to hit any target anywhere in the world within sixty minutes. Wolfe noted that he created the hypersonics program office at the behest of Pentagon and Navy acquisition officials.
“We have a program, we are funded, and we’re moving forward with that capability,†Wolfe said.
The effort at the SSP lines up with the recent pronouncements made by Deputy Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan, who gave assurances that the U.S. military will pursue hypersonic weapons, especially in light of Russia and China’s reported success with the technology. The U.S. armed forces will also be using hypersonic weapons “sooner and more often than people have ever expected,†Shanahan said.