Terminal Phase

BACKGROUND

Glide Phase Interceptor (GPI) is a ship-launched, hit-to-kill missile now under development for the United States Missile Defense Agency (MDA) and Japan's Ministry of Defense. It is intended to destroy hypersonic glide vehicles while they are still maneuvering through the upper atmosphere, the so-called glide phase, at ranges and altitudes beyond the Navy's current SM-6 terminal-defense capability. GPI will be fired from the Mk 41 Vertical Launching System aboard Aegis-equipped destroyers and from Aegis Ashore batteries, integrating with the fleet's existing command-and-control architecture