Welcome to the 5th Annual Hypersonic Weapons Summit. Hypersonic weapons development in the US has seen significant growth. The US has actively pursued the development of hypersonic weapons as since the early 2000s. In recent years, the US has focused such efforts on hypersonic glide vehicles and hypersonic cruise missiles with shorter and intermediate ranges for use in regional conflicts.
Although funding for these programs has been relatively restrained in the past, both the Pentagon and Congress have shown a massive interest in pursuing the development and near-term deployment of hypersonic systems through almost $4 billion in federal funding in 2022, with a further request of $4.7 billion in FY2023. This is due to the growing interest in these technologies in Russia and China, leading to a heightened focus in the United States on the strategic threat posed by hypersonic flight.
With recent successful tests, the path to hypersonic deployment seems closer than ever for the United States. However, there are many technological and operational decisions to be made before fielding operational weapons. Meeting the pace at which the Services wants to test and field a hypersonic offensive capability will be a challenge, but doing so is critical to the National Defense Strategy of the United States Military. Our conference provides an opportunity for stakeholders from across the the DoD, academia and industry to get together for two days of networking, information sharing, thought leadership and problem solving to better achieve the goals of the US in hypersonics. There will be senior representatives from across the major programs run by the US Air Force, US Navy, US Army and DARPA. We will also host perspectives from Allied programs to provide a truly international perspective, allowing for a comprehensive update on the progress, challenges and developments in the Hypersonic space.