Ryan McCarthy, secretary of the U.S. Army, said the service branch is working with the Department of Defense for future deterrence efforts including hypersonic missile research and development, National Defense Magazine reported Friday.
McCarthy told attendees at a Brookings Institution event in Washington, D.C., that the Army is “investing billions of dollars” for future defense plans that will span “the next couple budgets.” He added that command-and-control and sensing capabilities, as well as next-generation interceptors, may be crucial for the long-term deterrence effort.
According to McCarthy, the U.S. may deploy hypersonic weapons to the Indo-Pacific region to defend against China. He noted that the U.S. could also send a task force to the region to conduct cyber, information and missile operations, according to a Bloomberg report.
“There is an ongoing fight for influence in the region, for which access and presence are critical,” said McCarthy. “Partners matter.”
The Army has launched partnerships with the U.S. Navy and Air Force as well as the Missile Defense Agency to field hypersonic weapons by the early to mid-2020s.
