Analysing the US Hypersonic Endeavour
Keywords:
Hypersonic MissilesAbstract
The major nuclear powers are looking to develop and deploy new stand-off capabilities. New and emerging military capabilities, including hypersonic glide vehicles, scramjet cruise missiles, manoeuvring reentry vehicles, and orbital bombardment systems, are becoming a high-priority security imperative for states like China, Russia, and the US in their strategic doctrines. Hypersonic missiles can evade legacy missile defences and jeopardise critical infrastructure. 1 More importantly, Russia and China have demonstrated their hypersonic capabilities. China has been demonstrating hypersonic capabilities since 2014. 2 Russia, on the other hand, has already claimed to use the Kinzhal (Kh-47M2) hypersonic missiles in Ukraine. While China and Russia are now reportedly moving ahead in terms of deploying hypersonic capabilities, the US is facing several difficulties in this domain.