JUST IN: Hyten Concerned With Pace of Hypersonics, Counter-UAS Tech
10/28/2021
By Meredith Roaten
Amid reports of a Chinese hypersonic missile test, Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. John Hyten told reporters Oct. 28 that the slow pace of technology development is a problem for the Pentagon’s ability to deter China.
Last week the Financial Times reported that over the summer China had tested a hypersonic missile — a maneuverable projectile capable of traveling at speeds over Mach 5. If the Defense Department wants to stay ahead, it needs to cut through bureaucracy to field capabilities like hypersonics and counter-unmanned aerial systems, Hyten said weeks before his retirement.
“The Department of Defense is still unbelievably bureaucratic and slow,” he said at a Defense Writers Group event. “I would encourage my successor, in everything that he touches, to focus on speed and reinserting speed back into the processes of the Pentagon.”
The Chinese demonstration was “close to” a Sputnik moment for the country, said Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Mark Milley speaking to Bloomberg Television on Oct. 27.
https://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/articles/2021/10/28/hyten-concerned-with-pace-of-hypersonics-counter-uas-tech