If the president signs the bill, Pentagon leaders would be required to establish within the Office of the Secretary of Defense a “joint technology office on hypersonics” tasked with overseeing work on all activities to develop military platforms capable of surpassing supersonic-level speeds.

In the final version of the defense authorization bill, the conferees opted to hand the proposed hypersonics shop broad authorities, leaving establishment of the office's slate of responsibilities up to the defense secretary.

“The joint technology office . . . shall carry out a program for the development of hypersonics for defense purposes,” states a report accompanying the conferees' final bill. To that end, the House-Senate negotiators mandate that the new office should “coordinate and integrate current and future research, development, test, and evaluation programs and system demonstration programs of the Defense [Department] on hypersonics.”

At press time (Oct. 12), the president had not yet signed the legislation.

The Defense Department defines hypersonic platforms as missiles and aircraft that can travel at speeds of Mach 5 or faster.

Specifically, the proposed office would be tasked with a range of duties, including integrating the department's host of hypersonics programs and coordinating DOD and NASA efforts to field super-fast platforms, the report states.

Defense officials and many on Capitol Hill believe that developing Mach 5-capable -- and faster -- aircraft and missiles, as the Senate Armed Services Committee noted in a report accompanying its version of the authorization measure, “holds tremendous potential for high-speed strike, global reach and space access missions.” But the Senate panel warned in its report that “great challenges remain.”

The development of a hypersonics office could send ripple waves across the Air Force because senior service officials have touted the fast-moving platforms as potential solutions to the service's future long-range bomber and prompt global strike needs. Ongoing studies focused on both are under way within the Air Force and other Pentagon organizations.

The 2005 Quadrennial Defense Review directed the air service to field a new bomber aircraft by 2018 and another by 2035. It is more likely the 2035 bomber will be powered by a hypersonic power plant, senior Pentagon and Air Force officials have said. That's because they doubt the super-fast technology could be ready by 2018.

Earlier this summer, the Senate passed a version of the FY-07 defense authorization bill that also endorsed the idea of a hypersonics joint office. In its bill, the chamber approved a plan that would have given the envisioned office “approval and certification authority for hypersonics system demonstration programs.” The conferees included the same authority in the final bill.

Additionally, the conferees' bill would require the proposed hypersonics shop to fashion and deliver to lawmakers every two years a roadmap that describes efforts to field such high-speed systems. According to the conference report, the proposed roadmap should describe a joint program plan that adheres to the military's “short-, mid-, and long-term goals” for hypersonics as well as the department's likely mission requirements for the super-fast platforms.

The conferees also want that document to include a schedule for meeting the Pentagon's goals and a description of the “activities and funding anticipated to be required for meeting” them, according to the compromise legislation.

Further, the final bill states that the roadmap should include “acquisition transition plans” for hypersonic platforms.

The new office would have to craft the roadmap “in coordination with” the Joint Staff and “in consultation with” NASA officials, according to the conference report.

The senate bill directs the Pentagon to deliver the roadmap to Capitol Hill along with its fiscal year 2008 budget request, due to lawmakers next February. The first upgraded version of the strategic document would be due to Congress along with the military's FY-10 spending plan.

To ensure the military's programs in this realm are aligned with that proposed joint strategy document the Senate authorizers direct the JTO to conduct an annual review of all monies earmarked for hypersonics R&D efforts “to determine whether or not the funding and programs subject to review are consistent with the roadmap.” If OSD determines an initiative in this realm fails to comply with the roadmap, the compromise legislation mandates Pentagon officials deliver to the congressional defense committees a report explaining the discrepancy, according to the legislation.

The final version of the bill also stipulates that the provision mandating the hypersonics JTO, unless renewed in future years, would expire once the Pentagon submits its FY-12 spending request.