US to speed development of hypersonic weapons due to advancements made by China, Russia

A senior admiral in the US Navy, responsible for US' hypersonic weapons development said that the progress China and Russia have made in their hypersonic weapons development is pushing the US to develop its hypersonic weapons at a faster pace. The US does not want to fall behind China and Russia, as per a report from CNN news. Vice Admiral Johnny Wolfe, who serves as director of the Navy’s Strategic Systems program said that before China and Russia started progressing in the field, the US did not have any factor that pushed it to pursue hypersonic technology. 

He said that the pace at which China and Russia have made progress in the field has added a sense of urgency. When the admiral spoke with CNN last month, he acknowledged that Russia and China have developed weapons that the US has not. Last year, the Financial Times reported that Beijing conducted the test of a hypersonic weapon in which their missile flew around the world before hitting the designated target. Earlier this year, Moscow used a hypersonic missile in the Russia-Ukraine war, marking the 1st instance of a hypersonic missile being used in a war.  

Pentagon is seeking more funding from US Congress 

The hypersonic missile Moscow used in the war is known as the Kinzhal missile. Hypersonic missiles give an edge to the nation that is launching them as they subvert the rival's missile defence systems. Hypersonic missiles travel at Mach 5 (5 times faster than the speed of sound) and they manoeuvre during their flight, which ensures missile defence systems can't intercept them. According to the Congressional Research Service cited in the CNN report, the US Department of Defense has requested nearly 1 billion dollars more from the US Congress for hypersonic weapons development, compared to the previous year. Last year, the Pentagon received $3.8 billion for hypersonic research, but now the Pentagon is seeking $4.7 billion. 

The Common Hypersonic Glide Body is a joint venture between the US navy and the US army, and during this summer it conducted its first test of the full system which ended up in failure. The admiral has said that the US must not be afraid of failure as every attempt is an opportunity to learn. “I think failure is part of the process. When you’re looking at high-end technologies and you’re looking at how you really want to lean in and get something in the warfighter’s hands rapidly, we’ve got to accept the fact that to do that, we’re going to take risks," he said.