DoD Kicks Off New Hypersonic Program; F-18 to Get Hypersonic Cruise Missile
26th October 2020
“We are in a bit of a race right now,” with China and Russia on developing the technology, Mark Lewis, acting deputy undersecretary of Defense for research and engineering (and director of defense research and engineering for modernization,) told reporters on a Monday call.
One of the models the DoD has looked at in developing the new consortium is the Chinese government’s, which works closely with its universities on hypersonic weapons programs. Lewis said they have noted that “China will integrate their students working on their various projects.”
Universities in the US, Australia, the UK and Canada are eligible to work on the DoD program, said Gillian Bussey, head of the Joint Hypersonic Transition Office. But Bussey added Texas A&M has strict counterintelligence protocols in place, and the Pentagon will have strict rules for who can participate in the often classified work. The team in particular wants to ensure “we’re not training Chinese scientists that are going to go help their programs for example.”