US conducts 'successful' test of hypersonic missile technology

Fri, 22 Oct 2021 04:48:15 GMT
Space Daily

Washington (AFP) Oct 21, 2021 The United States successfully tested hypersonic missile technology...

The United States successfully tested hypersonic missile technology, a new weapons system which is already being deployed by China and Russia, the US Navy said Thursday.

The test, conducted Wednesday 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.

Ambassador Robert Wood, 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.

According to the Financial Times, China launched a hypersonic missile that completed a circuit of the planet before landing, missing its target.

Wood said Russia also had hypersonic technology and while the United States had held back from developing a military capacity in this field, it now had no choice but to respond in kind.

"And so we start looking at what other applications and defensive applications can you bring to hypersonic technology - and so that continues to things to accelerate the arms race."

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.

Pyongyang fired a new type of submarine-launched ballistic missile on Tuesday, the latest in a series of tests in recent weeks, prompting the US and Britain to call the diplomatic meeting in New York.

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