The US Missile Defense Agency has hired Lockheed Martin, Raytheon Technologies, and Northrop Grumman to compete in developing the Glide Phase Interceptor (GPI).
It is a defensive hypersonic weapon specifically designed to intercept enemy hypersonic missiles while they are flying in their mid-course without engines.
A GPI is being developed to shoot down hypersonic missiles as they glide through Earth’s upper atmosphere at an altitude of about 70 kilometers at speeds greater than Mach 5.
It was designed for launch from US Navy Aegis cruisers.
