The U.S. military is accelerating the development of hypersonic weapons in an effort to have this cutting-edge military technology in place by 2023, Defense Secretary Jesper said. He said in February that the Pentagon is making important progress in its efforts to implement its national defense strategy, including the possibility of deploying hypersonic weapons years ahead of schedule.
Esper told the Association of the Army’s annual meeting on Thursday (Oct. 15, 2020) that China and Russia are working to improve capabilities in areas such as precision long-range strike capability, anti-access and area denial systems, space and cyber, and to erode long-standing U.S. military advantages through the development and deployment of advanced military technology. He said that in order to continue to outperform its adversaries and win the competition, the United States must take advantage of a new generation of technology, starting with the development of hypersonic weapons.
In March, the U.S. Army and Navy made an important breakthrough in their joint effort to test a hypersonic glider, and the U.S. Army intends to integrate the technology into its arsenal by 2023, Esper said.
What makes hypersonic weapons special is their speed and maneuverability. Fast speed allows for surprise, while agile maneuverability creates concealment. The combination of these two characteristics makes an opponent’s missile defenses invulnerable.
The Pentagon hopes to spend $3.6 billion in 2021 to develop hypersonic weapons.
Currently, China and Russia are also working on hypersonic weapons.
Some defense analysts believe that hypersonic weapons could be an extension of the arms race that led to the excessive U.S.-Soviet nuclear build-up during the Cold War. At the same time, there are concerns that these technologies could spread to smaller countries beyond the United States, Russia, and China and be used to threaten attacks on larger nations.
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