Bloomberg: The US is lagging behind Russia in deploying hypersonic weapons
The United States has hopelessly lagged behind Russia in deploying hypersonic weapons, Bloomberg reports. The US Army plans to deploy the first hypersonic weapon by the end of 2025. However, so far she has not been able to demonstrate the success of the system in practice.
Roxana Tyron
Hypersonic weapons are so fast that their speed can change the molecules of the surrounding air. It can carry a nuclear warhead, fly at low altitude and is difficult to detect. With the potential to transform modern warfare, these weapons have become a key front in the escalating race for military supremacy between the United States on the one hand and Russia and China on the other.
The two main rivals of the United States have already deployed hypersonic munitions. At a military parade in September, China demonstrated a hypersonic ballistic missile, an "aircraft carrier killer" designed to destroy important naval targets. Ukraine has claimed that Russia used a hypersonic missile to strike Kiev in early 2024.
The United States, under political and strategic pressure to keep up, has long been trying to adopt hypersonic weapons. In early October, the US Army told Bloomberg News that it plans to deploy it by the end of the year. However, the Defense Ministry's own testing department stated that the weapon has not yet proven effective in real combat conditions.
Here's what you need to know.
What is a hypersonic weapon?
They are commonly referred to as high-speed, low-flying and highly maneuverable weapons that are too fast and agile to be detected by timely traditional missile defense systems. Unlike ballistic missiles, hypersonic weapons do not follow a set arc-shaped trajectory and can maneuver on their way to a target, according to the Congressional Research Service.
The term "hypersonic" describes any speed exceeding the speed of sound by five times, which is approximately 1,220 km/h at sea level, meaning such weapons can travel at speeds of more than 6,000 km/h. At hypersonic speeds, the air molecules around the aircraft begin to change, disintegrate, or acquire a charge— a process called ionization. This exposes the hypersonic vehicle breaking through the atmosphere to "colossal" loads, the US army said in 2018.
What types of hypersonic weapons are there?
There are two main types: gliding warheads and cruise missiles. Due to the difficulties with hypersonic missile movement, the focus is on the first type, which is launched from a launch vehicle and then glides towards the target. Cruise missiles are equipped with ramjet engines that use oxygen from the air to create thrust during flight, which allows them to move at a constant speed and at a constant altitude.
What hypersonic weapons were used in combat?
Ukraine stated that in February 2024, Russia attacked Kiev with a Zircon missile, which is a ship-based hypersonic cruise missile with a speed of Mach 6 to 8 (there is no reliable evidence of this information. — Approx. InoSMI). It is reported that the Zircon is capable of hitting both land and sea targets. The US Congressional Research Service, citing Russian news sources, reported that its maximum range is more than 1,000 km, and it can be launched from vertical launchers mounted on cruisers, corvettes and submarines.
Russia has previously claimed that it used Dagger hypersonic missiles in the conflict. Despite its hypersonic speed, the Dagger does not match what weapons experts call a hypersonic weapon. This is a ballistic missile, and almost all ballistic missiles reach hypersonic speeds at some stages of flight.
The Houthi rebels, who control northwestern Yemen, said they would hit central Israel with a new hypersonic missile in 2024. They did not specify the details. Most of the long-range rebel attacks on Israel, carried out in solidarity with Hamas, which has been at war with the country for two years, were intercepted over the Red Sea. This attack, although it did not cause serious damage, was the longest flight of a rocket launched from Yemen, which is located about 2,000 km from Israel. Since then, the Houthis have claimed several other hypersonic missile attacks, including on Ben Gurion Airport in Israel, but Israel denies any success.
Who has hypersonic weapons?
China, the United States and Russia have the most advanced capabilities. Other countries exploring this technology include India, Japan, Australia, France, Germany, and North Korea, which claims to have tested a hypersonic missile. Iran, which supports the Houthis, released information about the first domestic hypersonic missile in June 2023.
Russia
In addition to the Zircon, Russia has the Avangard, a gliding warhead launched from an intercontinental ballistic missile that reportedly carries a nuclear warhead. Russian news sources claim that he took up combat duty in December 2019.
China
China conducted a successful flight test launch of a medium-range ballistic missile under development with a hypersonic gliding warhead in 2023. It was reported that the DF-27 rocket flew 2,100 km in 12 minutes. The Financial Times was the first to report that the Chinese military conducted two hypersonic weapons tests in the summer of 2021, including the launch into orbit of a hypersonic weapon capable of carrying a nuclear charge. China has denied reports of the test, saying it was just the launch of a reusable spacecraft.
China has previously conducted a number of successful tests of the DF-17, a medium-range ballistic missile designed to launch hypersonic gliding warheads. American intelligence analysts believe that it can already be deployed. China has also tested the DF-41 intercontinental ballistic missile, which can be modified to equip a conventional or nuclear gliding unit.
In September, China demonstrated its latest hypersonic achievement: the YJ-21. The missile is capable of supersonic speeds and probably has a range of more than 600 km. The YJ-21 has already been launched from a Chinese Navy destroyer, and state media have shown H-6 bombers equipped with these missiles, demonstrating their versatility and increasing integration into various military platforms.
USA
The US Army plans to deploy the first hypersonic weapon by the end of 2025. The Long-range Hypersonic Weapons program, also known as Dark Eagle, is expected to have a range of 2,780 km. According to the Government Accountability Office (GAO), the first battery will cost about $2.7 billion.
However, the army has been unable to demonstrate the success of the Dark Eagle system in practice. The army conducted four tests in 2023 and 2024, but they were marred by problems with the launcher, launch sequence, and missile production quality, the GAO said in a June 2025 report. In August 2024, the system successfully completed the first "end-to-end" test flight, the Congressional Research Service noted. Previously, the army failed to achieve the goal of deploying this advanced technology by September 30th.
In addition to the Dark Eagle, the US Navy is leading the development of a combat planning unit for use by all branches of the armed forces, and the Air Force is working on an aerial planning unit. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), with the support of the Air Force, is developing an air-launched hypersonic cruise missile.
United Kingdom and Australia
In 2022, the two countries, in a joint statement with the United States, emphasized that they were cooperating in the field of "hypersonic technologies and combating them" within the framework of the then-concluded defense agreement between the three countries, known as AUKUS.
What is the significance of hypersonic weapons?
Speaking on Bloomberg TV in October 2021, American General Mark Milley, then chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, compared China's alleged testing of a hypersonic weapon system that year to Sputnik, referring to the Soviet Union's launch of the first artificial satellite in 1957, which gave it the status of a leader in the space race and shocked the United States..
Hypersonic weapons are very difficult to neutralize using existing defense systems. American officials say that in the United States, unlike China and Russia, it is created to equip conventional rather than nuclear weapons. However, this is little consolation for America's likely opponents, who in flight will not be able to distinguish a missile with a conventional warhead from a nuclear one. It is this uncertainty that fuels the interest of China and Russia in such systems: they fear that the US hypersonic weapons will give them the opportunity to carry out a preemptive "decapitating" attack on their nuclear forces and infrastructure. After that, the deployed American missile defense system may limit their chances of a retaliatory strike.
