US accelerates development of hypersonic weapons

PORTLAND, Maine, USA (AP) — Lagging behind Russia in the development of hypersonic weapons, the US Navy is rushing to deploy the first, with the installation on a warship due to begin later next year.

The United States is in a race with Russia and China to develop these weapons, which travel at speeds similar to those of ballistic missiles but are difficult to shoot down due to their maneuverability.

The Russian Army assured that on Saturday and Sunday it deployed hypersonic missiles against targets in Ukraine, the first time it used the weapon in combat. And although the Pentagon was unable to confirm these claims, the US Army is hurriedly seeking to catch up.

The American weapon would be launched like a ballistic missile and would release a hypersonic glide vehicle that would be seven or eight times faster than the speed of sound before hitting the target.

In Maine, Bath Iron Works, a subsidiary of General Dynamics, has begun engineering and design work to install the weapon system on three Zumwalt-class destroyers.

Work would begin on a shipyard yet to be designated sometime in the fiscal year beginning in October 2023, the Navy said.

Hypersonic weapons are those that exceed Mach 5 speed, or five times the speed of sound, about 6,100 kilometers per hour (3,800 miles per hour). ICBMs far exceed that threshold, but they have a predictable trajectory and can be intercepted.

The new weapons are maneuverable.

Existing missile defense systems, including the US Navy's Aegis system, could hardly intercept such objects because maneuverability makes their movement unpredictable and speed leaves little time to react.

Russia says it has ballistic missiles that can deploy hypersonic glide vehicles, as well as a hypersonic cruise missile.