U.S. Navy will install hypersonic missiles aboard destroyers and submarines, White House says

The U.S. Navy plans to install hypersonic missiles aboard attack submarines and more than 60 destroyers, the top White House national security official said Wednesday.

"The Navy's Conventional Strike Program will provide hypersonic missile capability to hold targets at risk from longer ranges," National Security Adviser Robert O'Brien reportedly said Wednesday. "This capability will be deployed first on our newer Virginia-class submarines and the Zumwalt-class destroyers. Eventually, all three flights of the Arleigh Burke-class destroyers will field this capability."

O'Brien made the remarks at Maine's Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, where he aimed to rally support for the new Battle Force 2045 plan. 

The plan, revealed earlier this month by Defense Secretary Mark Esper, is part of the Pentagon's effort to maintain a naval bulwark in the Asia-Pacific region against an increasingly aggressive China. Among other things, the Battle Force 2045 blueprint aims for a fleet of 500 ships by 2045.

The hypersonic missiles will enhance the Navy's ability to fight across wider swaths of ocean, O'Brien indicated. 

"The Navy's Conventional Prompt Strike program will provide hypersonic missile capability to hold targets at risk from longer ranges," he said, according to Defense News.

The program will require the Navy to retrofit ships with launchers that can accommodate the faster — and larger — missiles.

"Investment in the future is vital," O'Brien said. 

Last week, the USS Zumwalt, the lead ship in the Zumwalt class guided missile destroyer series, completed its first live fire test of the MK 57 Vertical Launching System, with a Standard Missile (SM-2), the Navy announced Monday. 

Next month, the U.S. Navy will join its counterparts in the so-called Quad — which also includes Australia, India, and Japan — in large scale war games.