Weapons

Mach 5 Arms Race: The U.S. Military Is Racing to Build Hypersonic Weapons

The Russian hypersonic weapons test is shining light upon an aggressive US plan to prototype, test and deploy hypersonic weapons on an expedited schedule -- to defend against enemy attacks by fast-tracking an ability to launch high-impact, high-speed attacks at Mach. 5 - five times the speed of sound.

“We would like all the resources we can build into the kill chain to hit any target or hold it at risk with hypersonic weapons,” Gen . Timothy Ray, Air Force Global Strike Command, said at the Air Force Association Air, Space & Cyber Conference in September.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is, according to numerous news reports and Russia's own state news operation, calling the test a tremendous success, adding that the weapon is "invincible" and ready to enter service next year.

The actual technological capacity of the new Russian weapon has not, as of yet, been verified by public US reports.

​​Legitimate or not, a Russian weapon traveling at hypersonic speeds, naturally, would better enable offensive missile strikes to destroy targets such and enemy ships, buildings, air defenses and even drones and fixed-wing or rotary aircraft -- depending upon the guidance technology available.