Vice Adm. Jon Hill, director of the Missile Defense Agency, said that Congress and the Department of Defense are focused on developing hypersonic and ballistic tracking technologies, Defense News reported Tuesday. Hill noted that emerging threats remain a big challenge for MDA and the agency is in the process of updating its existing weapons and sensors for both terrestrial and space-based missions.
“It’s just important to get that deployed as soon as possible,†he said. “So we have to maintain stable investment. We need to get to a near-term, on-orbit demo as fast as we can, and then we need to build out the constellation in concert with the Space Development Agency. If we do that, we’re in a great place.â€
Other priorities that Hill cited include plans to deploy more ground-based interceptors for missile defense and establishing a space-based missile defense sensor layer. MDA announced its intent to appoint Hill, formerly its deputy director, as head of the agency in April.