Gillian Bussey, director of the joint hypersonics transition office within the Department of Defense’s office of the undersecretary for research and engineering, said her office aims to accelerate the transition of hypersonic technologies to warfighters by driving community collaboration, facilitating the involvement of universities and allies, ensuring that investments are linked to soldiers’ requirements and establishing a systems engineering field activity to help monitor tech transition efforts, Government Matters reported Tuesday.
Bussey told GovMatters in an interview that JHTO is excited about several developments, including the Hawk missile system test from Raytheon Technologies, strong support from Congress as it works through the budget process and the Army’s battery with the long-range hypersonic weapon.
“Hawk is an air-breathing scramjet engine. It’s more of a tactical system so it’s a very nice complement to the conventional prompt strike program,” she said.
Bussey noted that collaborating with universities allows DOD to gain access to new ideas and technologies and build up its workforce.
She also highlighted the need for cyber protections and improved vetting process to safeguard U.S. hypersonic technology from near-peer competitors such as Russia and China.
