US successfully tests hypersonic missile technology

Amid growing threat of new weapons, the US successfully tested hypersonic missile technology on Thursday. The test, conducted at a NASA facility in Wallops, Virginia, is a "vital step in the development of a Navy-designed common hypersonic missile," the navy said in a statement. “This test demonstrated advanced hypersonic technologies, capabilities, and prototype systems in a realistic operating environment,” it said. Hypersonic missiles, like traditional ballistic missiles, can fly more than five times the speed of sound (Mach 5). According to reports,  China and Russia are already deploying these missiles. According to the Financial Times, China launched a hypersonic missile that completed a circuit of the planet before landing, missing its target.

Ambassador Robert Wood, the US permanent representative to the Conference on Disarmament, expressed concern earlier this week following reports that China had conducted a test in August of a hypersonic missile with nuclear capacity. “We are very concerned by what China has been doing on the hypersonic front,” said Wood, who next week steps down from his post in Geneva after seven years. China unveiled a hypersonic medium-range missile, the DF-17, in 2019, which can travel around 2,000 kilometers (1,200 miles) and can carry nuclear warheads.

Russia recently launched a hypersonic missile, the Zircon, from a submarine, and since late 2019 has had the hypersonic nuclear-capable Avangard missiles in service. The Avangard can travel up to Mach 27, changing course and altitude.The Pentagon hopes to deploy its first hypersonic weapons by 2025 and has said their development is one of its “highest priorities.”