The Air Force issued a draft request for information to industry for ideas on conventional prompt global strike systems. “The Air Force desires to understand the concepts, architectures, and designs that will provide the capability to strike globally, precisely, and rapidly with conventional kinetic and non-kinetic effects against high-payoff, time-sensitive targets in a single or multi-theater environment,” reads the solicitation, which is posted at the Federal Business Opportunities website. A CPGS could be a long-range ballistic missile that releases a boost-glide vehicle that flies a non-ballistic trajectory to deliver weapons to the target. The industry input will help Air Force officials to prepare “realm-of-the-possible” options for a material development decision in Fiscal 2012 by the Pentagon’s acquisition executive, states the document. The Pentagon has proposed spending approximately $2 billion from Fiscal 2011 through Fiscal 2016 for research and development of CPGS capability.
The National Reconnaissance Office is seeing “great output” from its constellation of proliferated low Earth orbit satellites and is working with the Space Force and the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency to operationalize the capability, according to Deputy Director Maj. Gen. Chris Povak.
