Lt. Gen. Heath Collins, director of the Missile Defense Agency prepares before the House Armed Services Subcommittee FY27 missile defense and missile defeat programs and activities hearing in the Rayburn House office Building on April 15, 2026 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Luke Johnson/Getty Images)
If the demonstration is successful, Project Maverick could lead MDA to fielding an interim counter-hypersonic weapon until the Glide Phase Interceptor is delivered in the 2030s.
A B-52H Stratofortress assigned to the 419th Flight Test Squadron is undergoes pre-flight procedures at Edwards Air Force Base, California, Aug. 8, 2020. The aircraft conducted a captive-carry flight test of the AGM-183A Air-launched Rapid Response Weapon Instrumented Measurement Vehicle 2 at the Point Mugu Sea Range off the Southern California coast. (Air Force photo by Giancarlo Casem)
Lt. Gen. Heath Collins noted that with other missile programs “you may launch dozens of dozens of weapons. But on the hypersonic side, we just have not…
