The Department of War has issued a solicitation seeking advanced sensor and seeker prototypes to enable interceptor engagements with ballistic missiles and hypersonic threats, according to the Defense Innovation Unit.
What Capabilities Is the War Department Seeking?
The War Department is seeking integrated sensing technologies that use modalities such as light or laser detection and ranging, or LIDAR/LADAR, electro-optical and infrared, radio frequency or combinations of active and passive sensors for space- and interceptor-based applications. The effort emphasizes affordability, scalability and supply chain resilience, with modular sensor designs suitable for integration as kinetic kill vehicle, or KKV, seekers or hosted space payloads.
Required capabilities include reliable target detection and discrimination across space and Earth backgrounds, low-latency operation, high frame rates and durability for high-dynamic launch and re-entry environments, and multi-year low Earth orbit missions. The program follows an accelerated timeline, progressing from laboratory demonstration to on-orbit hosted payload testing within 12 to 24 months.
What Are the Key Technical Objectives?
Proposals, due Feb. 17, must demonstrate the ability to detect, track and discriminate intercontinental ballistic missiles and hypersonic glide vehicles across multiple flight phases, providing precise data to differentiate valid threats from debris and countermeasures. The proposed systems are expected to deliver real-time, high-accuracy tracking to support KKV engagements in endo- and exo-atmospheric environments, with robust measurement accuracy, advanced processing and sensor fusion, precise timing, and reliable performance under strict aerospace and interceptor size, weight and power, or SWaP, constraints.
