Washington, Jan 18 (UNI) US President Donald Trump announced plans for a huge expansion of US missile defence with aim of destroying enemy missiles “anywhere, anytime, any place”.
The missile defence review, which Trump unveiled on Thursday in a speech at the Pentagon, calls for a major upgrade in land and sea-based missile interceptor systems, as well as the development of a layer of satellite sensors in low orbit that would help track new types of cruise missiles and hypersonic glide vehicles (HGVs) countries like Russia and China are developing.
Under the review, the Pentagon plans to expand the country's existing missile defence shield, including extra layers with space-based sensors and interceptors, technology to track and defeat hypersonic weapons, unmanned aircraft with lasers to shoot down threats, and missile-hunting F-35 stealth fighters.
"The United States will adjust its position to defend against any missile strikes to include cruise and hypersonic," Trump said.
"Missile defences are a key element of our strategy given this proliferation of offensive ballistic and cruise missiles and emerging hypersonic weapons technologies that markedly raise threats to regional balances and to our major allies and partners," Acting Secretary of Defence Patrick Shanahan wrote in a preface to the review.
The review is the first update to the US missile defence policy since its 2010 version unveiled during the Obama administration.
UNI XC RSU 0857