Elodie Collins
The Missile Defense Agency has selected Northrop Grumman to continue the development of a defensive countermeasure against hypersonic weapons under the Glide Phase Interceptor program. The company said Thursday that its GPI will fire interceptor missiles from U.S. Navy’s destroyers equipped with Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense systems and from Aegis Ashore, the land-based variant of the weapons platform.
“GPI adds mission critical standoff to warfighters in scenarios where distance creates an advantage,” commented Wendy Williams, vice president and general manager of launch and missile defense systems at Northrop Grumman. “Tailorable to a multitude of mission requirements, Northrop Grumman’s revolutionary solution is designed to perform in the evolving threat landscape.”
In 2021, Northrop Grumman received an initial $18.9 million other transaction agreement from the MDA to submit a GPI design concept. Raytheon Missiles and Defense and Lockheed Martin also secured OTAs worth approximately $20.9 million under the hypersonic countermeasure program.
In the next phase of the GPI’s development, Northrop Grumman will further refine the preliminary design of its hypersonic interceptor. The company will also demonstrate the capability of the system in hypersonic environments and conduct flight experiments under the program.
The GPI program is a partnership between the United States and Japan. It aims to detect, track and engage hypersonic threats in the glide phase.
