Arms race

The hypersonic arms race is a billion-dollar boon for one US weapons maker

Lockheed Martin has won $2.5 billion worth of contracts in the past year for hypersonic missiles, weapons at the heart of a conventional arms race between the US, China, and Russia that the military may seek to adapt for nuclear weapons.

If the military takes that step, the Bethesda, Md.-based defense company might have a big advantage on work that could be valued at as much as $20 billion, said Roman Schweizer, an analyst with Cowen Washington Research Group, which has tracked federal policy for the past four decades.

Hypersonic missiles, which can travel at Mach 5 — five times the speed of sound — or faster, are among an array of advances from robotics to lasers and biotechnology that former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said are vital to US dominance in future wars.

In addition to an $846 million award this week to develop hypersonic boosters for the Navy, Lockheed landed two contracts worth a total $1.7 billion last year to build similarly fast missiles for the Air Force.