Missile Defense Agency
The U.S. Just Shot Down a Hypersonic Missile in a Show of Force
The U.S. Armed Forces are continuing to develop technologies for countering adversaries’ hypersonic missiles.
The Next Steps In Missile Defense
Shortly after assuming office, the new Trump administration will undertake a comprehensive review of the missile threats confronting the United States. Geopolitical and technical developments are undermining the longstanding foundations...
A Homeland Missile Defense Agenda for the Next President
The United States has gone to great lengths to defend Israel and Ukraine against air and missile attacks. On October 13, the Department of Defense announced plans to equip Israel...
Lockheed Martin Makes Progress on Next-Generation Interceptor
Tracking and targeting an incoming intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) traveling through space presents an enormous challenge for the Missile Defense Agency (MDA), especially as potential adversaries have increasingly employed sophisticated...
Will AI Be the Secret to Hypersonic Missile Defense?
Stopping hypersonic missile attacks will likely rely heavily upon data sharing, high-speed data processing, and artificial intelligence (AI). The challenge for hypersonic missile defense is to establish a continuous track...
Northrop and Raytheon Team Up on Next-Generation Interceptor
Mobile intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) launchers, nuclear weapons traveling at hypersonic speeds, and precision-guided re-entry vehicles all pose serious challenges to the U.S. Missile Defense Agency. However, industry partners are...
Can the Pentagon’s ‘Layered Defense’ Shoot Down Hypersonic Missiles?
A Navy warship may be able to fire an interceptor from its Vertical Launch Systems fast enough and far enough to destroy an attacking hypersonic weapon traveling at five times...
Hundreds of Satellites Will Be the Key to America’s Hypersonic Defenses
Missile defense technology has made staggering steps forward in recent years, and it is now poised for additional breakthroughs. Yet an even newer paradigm is needed to counter an emerging...
Distance Isn’t a Problem for the Navy’s New SM-3 Ballistic Missile Interceptor
The Missile Defense Agency (MDA) is increasingly capable of tracking and destroying approaching enemy ballistic missiles from “beyond the horizon” at sea, meaning new windows of attack are being made...
Can U.S. Missile Interceptors Destroy An Attacking ICBM?
Attacking intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) spend roughly twenty minutes traveling through the “midcourse” phase in space which presents a time window that cutting-edge missile defense systems, such as the Ground-Based...
The Missile Defense Agency Is Focusing on Hypersonic Threats
The speed at which hypersonic missiles can travel from one radar field of view to another makes them difficult, if not impossible, to track. In addition to motivating the United...
Here’s Why the Pentagon Loves the Long-Range Discrimination Radar
The 2023 Missile Defense Agency (MDA) budget is prioritizing defense against hypersonic missiles by funding its now operational Long-Range Discrimination Radar (LRDR), a highly sensitive radar system intended to help...