Hypersonic Defense

Strategic competitors and both homeland and regional adversaries are heavily investing in hypersonics, both offense and defense, and currently have operational hypersonic strike and defensive systems deployed. These are challenging realities of the emerging missile threat environment that United States Missile Defense policy, strategy, and capabilities must address. These adversaries continue to expand the capability and capacity of their offensive and defensive hypersonic missile inventories for both strategic and regional hypersonic missiles. Near Peer/Peer nations have also demonstrated hypersonic missiles in flight tests. The Hypersonic Defense program element includes executing systems engineering activities, upgrading existing systems, investing in new technologies and maturation, and developing new regional and homeland defensive capabilities. Missile Defense Agency's (MDA) counter hypersonic threats strategy includes leveraging existing systems, delivering an initial regional and homeland layered defense capability, and increasing defense capabilities in the future. Activities enabling this strategy are the following: - Develop a land and sea-based Glide Phase Intercept capability to engage hypersonic threats during the glide phase of flight and other threats of multi-mission areas. - Develop requirements to integrate Glide Phase Intercept capability into the Missile Defense System-Next capabilities in support of the President's Executive Order 14186. - Execute systems engineering for Hypersonic Defense, including architecture analysis, technology prioritization, requirements development, planning, and analysis. - Partner with the Services and other agencies to leverage land and sea-based work on common technologies, test infrastructure, weapon development, testing, and war-gaming. - Cooperatively develop the Glide Phase Interceptor with Japan.

PWS contains non-headquarters management costs in support of Missile Defense Agency (MDA) functions and activities across the entire Missile Defense System. These functions include Government Civilians and Contract Support Services. This effort provides integrity and oversight of the Missile Defense System as well as supports MDA in the development and evaluation of technologies that will respond to the changing threat. Additionally, PWS includes personnel to support global deployments performing deployment site preparation and activation, and provides facility capabilities for MDA Executing Agent locations worldwide. Other MDA wide costs include: physical and technical security; civilian drug testing; audit readiness; the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) program; legal services and settlements; travel and agency training; office, equipment, vehicle, and warehouse leases; utilities and base operations across multiple geographic locations; commercial and ancillary facility services; management of all facility aspects regardless of lifecycle stage; supplies and maintenance; compliance with statutory environmental requirements; data and unified communications support; materiel and readiness and central property management of equipment; Facilities Sustainment, Restoration and Modernization (FSRM) program (formerly Real Property Maintenance) to keep the Department's inventory of facilities in good working order; and similar operating expenses. PWS is allocated on a pro-rata basis across most Agency PEs and, therefore, fluctuates per PE by FY based on the total Agency budget in that FY.