The Hypersonic Imperative: Restoring U.S. Advantage in a Contested Battlespace with Michael White

Details

Michael White, Lead Author of a major new report on hypersonic strategy, will outline why the United States faces an urgent need to field both hypersonic strike weapons and counter-hypersonic defenses at scale. White will examine how China and Russia are rapidly expanding advanced anti-access/area-denial (A2/AD) networks—combining high‑speed strike systems, sophisticated air and missile defenses, anti-satellite capabilities, and non‑kinetic disruptors—to challenge U.S. dominance across every warfighting domain.
White’s presentation will highlight the hypersonic imperative: the requirement for fast, survivable, long‑range strike systems capable of defeating critical elements of an adversary’s kill chain within the compressed timelines of modern conflict. He will also discuss the need for an integrated comprehensive layered defeat strategy, blending kinetic and non‑kinetic effects both before and after launch to neutralize adversary A2/AD systems.

The talk will outline essential priorities for the Department of Defense and Congress—from rapid acquisition of current hypersonic systems to next‑generation development, test infrastructure expansion, long‑range kill webs, industrial base strengthening, and allied cooperation. White will also explore the transformative potential of reusable hypersonic aircraft for persistent ISR and responsive strike in highly contested environments.

This seminar will offer a clear, strategic roadmap for restoring U.S. advantage in the emerging era of high‑speed warfare.

Speakers

Peter Huessy

Host of Huessy Seminars, Mr. Peter Huessy is President of his own defense consulting firm, Geostrategic Analysis, founded in 1981, and from 2021-3, Senior Fellow at the Hudson Institute. From 1981-1992, he was also the National Security Fellow at the AFPC, IFPA and JINSA. He was then the senior defense consultant at the National Defense University Foundation for 22 years during which he hosted over 750 national security seminars and public policy events. And from 2013-2021 he directed similar public policy outreach with the Air Force Association on nuclear, missile defense and space policy.

Mr. Huessy has served as an expert defense and national security analyst for over 50 years, helping his clients cover congressional activities, arms control group efforts, nuclear armed states actions, and US administration nuclear related policy, budgets, and strategies, while monitoring budget and policy developments on nuclear deterrence, ICBM modernization, missile defense, space, nuclear arms control, and overall nuclear modernization.

He also analyzes the nuclear activities of North Korea, China, and Iran. This also includes monitoring activities of think tanks, non-governmental organizations, and other US government departments, as well as projecting future actions of Congress in this area. His specialty is developing and implementing public policy campaigns to secure support for important national security objectives. And analyzing nuclear related technology and its impact on public policy, including a study of which he prepared for the Aerospace Corporation in 2019. He contributed to a NIDS nuclear policy book in 2023, and for over 40 years has authored a weekly nuclear report “The ICBM Ear.”

Michael White

Michael E. White was the Principal Director for Hypersonics (PD,H) in the Office of the Director of Defense Research and Engineering (Modernization) within the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering (OUSD(R&E)). In that capacity, Mr. White was responsible for leading the Nation’s vision and strategy for developing offensive and defensive warfighting capability enabled by hypersonic systems. This included establishing the roadmap for the DoD-wide developments being pursued to field transformational warfighting capability enabled by hypersonic systems. The roadmap includes air, land and sea based hypersonic strike capabilities as well as the systems required to enable comprehensive layered defeat of adversary hypersonic capability. The efforts also include future developments based on reusable hypersonic systems. The portfolio of activity he is responsible for is in excess of $3B annually across the Services, OSD, MDA, DARPA, and SCO. SDA also has a key role in developing space as an enabler.

Before his current position, Mr. White was Head of the Air and Missile Defense Sector at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory where he led over 1,100 staff members developing advanced concepts to enhance the Nation’s air and missile defense capability. Prior to this 2016 appointment as Sector Head, and starting in 2005, Mr. White served as the APL Mission Area Executive for Air and Missile Defense where he was responsible for a program portfolio that included AEGIS, STANDARD Missile, Ship Self Defense System, Cooperative Engagement Capability, the Surface Electronic Warfare Improvement Program, and Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense, along with numerous other Navy and Missile Defense Agency programs. Mr. White earned both his Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Maryland.