US hypersonic weapons will be launched ahead of schedule.
US officials have announced that Washington will possess hypersonic weapons sooner than planned thanks to the efforts of the relevant units.
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An illustrative image of the new US hypersonic weapon prototype. Photo:Lockheed Martin. |
"We will be test-firing hypersonic weapons sooner and more frequently than anyone previously thought possible."CNBC NewsOn October 3rd, a statement by US Deputy Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan was cited.
According to Shanahan, the Pentagon is calculating the cost and quantity of hypersonic weapons the military will require, as well as measures to build a defense industrial base to support the production of these weapons.
"We are working hard, efficiently, and will scale up production," Shanahan emphasized, adding that this work requires collaborative efforts between the branches of the military.
In late July, the US Air Force, Army, and Navy secretaries also signed a cooperation agreement on a program to develop a hypersonic missile capable of penetrating the world's most advanced defense systems.
According to U.S. Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson, for more than 10 years, the Pentagon has been actively designing and developing missiles capable of speeds exceeding Mach 5 (6,174 km/h). With the cooperation of various branches of the military, this missile model could be tested in 2020 or 2021.
Hypersonic weapons typically travel at speeds above Mach 5, approximately 6,000-12,000 km/h, and possess complex maneuvering capabilities in flight, making it impossible for enemy missile defense systems to accurately determine their trajectory for interception.
China is believed to be leading the world in hypersonic weapons technology, at least in its application to real battlefields. The DF-17 is the world's first missile system to use a hypersonic warhead, and Beijing is expected to deploy it in 2020.
In his State of the Union address on March 1st, Russian President Vladimir Putin also introduced two hypersonic weapons: the Kinzhal anti-ship missile system, capable of sinking warships from a distance of 2,000 km, and the Avangard hypersonic glide vehicle, with a speed of up to 25,000 km/h and a range of 10,000 km.