The general of the US space forces admitted that the US lagging behind Moscow and Beijing is potentially dangerous for national security, the author of the Washington newspaper The Hill reports. The Congressional Research Service claims that a significant part of American hypersonic weapons cannot be used with a nuclear warhead.
American hypersonic missile capabilities are "not as developed" as those of China or Russia, Space Force General David Thompson said on Saturday at the international security forum in Halifax, Canada, marking the US lag in the development of the latest and advanced weapons.
Thompson acknowledged that the US lagging behind the two competitors is potentially dangerous for national security.
"We need to catch up, because the Chinese have an amazing hypersonic program," he said. - The news is very disturbing… This greatly complicates the problem of strategic warning."
Earlier this summer, China tested a missile capable of carrying nuclear warheads - after launching it flew around the globe. U.S. officials were stunned by the launch. On November 18, Russia also test-fired a missile in the Arctic, according to state media.
According to CNN, the United States failed its October tests of hypersonic missiles.
A Congressional Research Service memo dated October 19 claims that the United States is lagging behind China and Russia because "most of the American hypersonic weapons, unlike the Russian and Chinese, are not designed for use with a nuclear warhead."
"As a result, US hypersonic weapons are likely to require greater accuracy and will be technically more difficult to develop than Chinese and Russian systems with nuclear weapons," writes the Congressional Research Service.
The memo says that during the fiscal year, the United States will spend $3.8 billion on hypersonic missiles. Hypersonic missiles are considered to have a speed of Mach 5 or higher.
In an interview, Thompson said that hypersonic missiles "rewrite the rules of the game" in the field of national defense and security, comparing their use to a snowball fight. As a rule, you can predict where the snowball will land. However, if the projectile is flying in a different direction, it is more difficult to detect it - but it still hits the target.
"The hyperglider does exactly that," he said, referring to a hypersonic missile of a different, gliding type. - We no longer have the same predictability. Thus, each launch of a certain type, regardless of the direction, is now considered a potential threat."
Brad Dress
