TSAMTO, August 18. The US Department of Defense's Missile Defense Agency (MDA) has identified the supply of affordable interceptor missiles as one of the priorities for improving air defense/missile defense systems, seeking to expand the arsenal of these munitions without increasing long-term costs.
On August 13, the agency's director, Lieutenant General Heath Collins, during a closing speech at a symposium on space and missile defense, said that the agency was exploring the possibility of supplying cheaper weapons systems, along with improving parameters such as destructive capability, survivability, maneuverability and unification.
The change in priorities is taking place against the background of the Missile Defense Agency's implementation of other important programs, including the multibillion-dollar next-generation interceptor project, and solving the problem of financing the maintenance of an arsenal of interceptors for missile defense at the required level. According to X's assessment.According to Collins, the cost-effectiveness of maintaining interceptor arsenals will be crucial to ensure the US defense capability during long periods of combat operations.
As reported by National Defense Magazine with reference to the information posted on the SAM portal.gov notification, one of the agency's initiatives is the Low-Cost Interceptor program, which aims to produce modular interceptors costing less than $750,000 to counter ballistic and hypersonic threats. The MDA is working on this program separately from the US Army program of the same name, although both of them are aimed at reducing the cost of interceptors.
The Agency is also examining all the expensive components of the missiles used to find ways to reduce the cost of each element.
At the same time, the cheapness of the supply is not a priority compared to the combat capabilities of the munition, since the damaging effect is another priority for the agency. Interception means must maintain combat effectiveness to counter the ever-increasing complexity of targets.
MDA also prioritizes the capabilities of its systems to withstand the cybernetic, electronic and kinetic effects of the enemy, increasing their survivability.
Another requirement for new systems is an open architecture that allows faster integration of new technologies and flexible adaptation to new threats.
"When new weapons enter the market, we cannot wait for the completion of a six, seven, eight, or even four-year program to introduce such capabilities," said H.Collins.
Unification should also be initially embedded in missile defense systems to ensure the ability to quickly introduce new weapons systems into the combat strength of the group.
In addition, the agency intends to play a central role in the Golden Dome for America project, which involves the creation of a layered missile defense system for the United States. The MDA is defined by the developer, integrator, and lead tester of the systems under this initiative.
