Sec. 235. Sense of Congress on hypersonic weapons
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Congress makes the following findings: The United States has gained a thorough understanding of hypersonic technology over the course of seven decades of experimentation. The requirements for technological breakthroughs in hypersonics have largely been established, allowing pursuit of hypersonic glide weapons without a prohibitive budget effect. The Department of Defense has several hypersonic research and development efforts underway, including conventional prompt global strike
(CPS)weapons system, the Hypersonic Air-Breathing Weapon Concept, and the Tactical Boost Glide program. In testimony before the Committee on Armed Services of the Senate on April 4, 2017, the Commander of United States Strategic Command, General John Hyten, identified the conventional prompt global strike weapons system as the leading technology maturation effort in the realm of hypersonics and stated that his command sees an operational need for a CPS capabilities by the mid-2020s. . Hypersonic weapons present a radical change in warfare, because they can circumvent many of the challenges associated with contested warfare and integrated air defenses. Hypersonic weapons may provide solutions to difficult problem sets, such as anti-access area denial schemes, deeply buried or hardened target sets, and mobile high value target sets. Other countries are aggressively pursuing hypersonic weapons at an alarming rate that threaten to outpace the United States if the United States does not more aggressively pursue development of hypersonic weapons. The Air Force has a $10,000,000 requirement on the Unfunded Priority List for hypersonic prototyping. It is the sense of Congress that— the Department of Defense should expedite testing, evaluation, and acquisition of hypersonic weapon systems to meet the stated needs of the warfighter; testing of such weapon systems should include flight testing, ground based testing, and underwater launch testing; the Department of Defense should adhere to the requirement in section 1688 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017 ( Public Law 114–328 ) to proceed to a Milestone A decision on the conventional prompt global strike weapons system not later than September 30, 2020, or the date that is 240 days after the successful completion of intermediate range flight 2 of such system; the United States cannot afford to lose its advantage over foreign countries in developing hypersonic weapons; and the Department of Defense should focus on the next generation of weapon systems, including third offset technologies, such as hypersonics.
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Sec. 235
Sense of Congress on hypersonic weapons
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