Pentagon Calls Conference with Defense Companies To Speed Up Hypersonic Weapons Development

The Pentagon is apparently desperate to make progress on hypersonic weapons development. CNN reported yesterday that Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin will be hosting a meeting next week with the CEOs of the top defense companies as part of a push to “light a fire underneath the entire hypersonic industry” and “encourage industry to pick up the pace,” according to two executives at two defense companies who’ve been invited to attend the meeting which is scheduled for Feb. 3. The Pentagon says Austin will deliver “brief framing remarks'’ at the beginning of next week’s meeting, but it will be chaired by Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks as “part of her regular, drumbeat engagements with industry” to discuss “ways to accelerate the development of cutting-edge capabilities and new operational concepts.” Top executives from Lockheed Martin, Raytheon Technologies, Northrop Grumman, Boeing, Leidos, Aerojet Rocketdyne, BAE Systems, L3Harris, and about a half-dozen other defense companies have been invited to attend.