The US Missile Defence Agency Director Lt. Gen. Samuel Greaves told Congress yesterday that F-35s will gain ballistic missile defence capabilities in six to seven years which means the Joint Strike Fighter will be able to detect, track, and, possibly, even shoot down ballistic missiles by 2025. Greaves said to develop, integrate and test the capabilities, whether its sensor-based or a new fast missile, would take six to seven years which will be a significant contributor to future ballistic missile defence.

“Our job is to look outside of the classic missile defense system and look for sensors and shooters that would be able to contribute when integrated into the BMDS, and we see F-35 as one,” Greaves said. “We’ve been working with the Air Force at least the last few months, and we did a test with the Navy a few years ago.”