House Lawmaker Urges Pentagon to Accelerate Hypersonic Testing Pace

The Department of Defense should partner with industry to expand and accelerate the country’s hypersonic testing capabilities if it wants to develop expertise and catch up with Russia and China, House Hypersonics Caucus Chairperson Rep. Doug Lamborn said on Friday at the launch of the Emerging Technologies Institute’s report on the deficiencies in the national hypersonics industrial base. Lamborn said hypersonics testing is at an impasse as the agencies tasked to test defense technologies are faced with inadequate facilities and a need to test other strategic programs, the Air and Space Forces Magazine reported.

ETI, an affiliate of the National Defense Industrial Association, highlighted the insufficient hypersonic manufacturing base and testing infrastructure, with almost a dozen actual hypersonic test flights being conducted per year compared to the weekly testing considered by some experts as ideal. The report considers the lack of consistent commitment from the Defense Department a significant barrier to scaling the hypersonics industrial base.