Hypersonic missiles: Is the US falling behind its competitors in the new global arms race? – Up Jobs News

For the first time in decades, it seems the US may be falling behind its competitors in an increasingly important new arms race: the rush to develop hypersonic missiles.

As Russia continues to wage war in Ukraine, and tensions flare between China and Taiwan, experts say this new generation of weaponry could leave the US and its allies exposed.

“Basically, if somebody fired hypersonic weapons at the West today, we wouldn’t know until it’s too late that these weapons were on top of us,” says University of Colorado Boulder’s professor of aerospace engineering Iain Boyd.

The term hypersonic refers to a missile that travels at least five times the speed of sound, or around 5,600 kilometres per hour.

But professor Boyd told ABC News Daily it’s not the speed of these new missiles alone that makes them dangerous.

In fact, the technology to fire weapons at hypersonic speeds has been around since the 1950s, and intercontinental ballistic missiles, which are capable of speeds of up to 24,000 kilometres per hour, have been in military arsenals for decades.

What makes the new generation of hypersonic missiles so valuable, Professor Boyd says, is their ability to manoeuvre and avoid detection.

“The old hypersonic systems that are still around, they’re a little bit easier to defend against because the path that they follow is relatively easy to understand,” he said.

“These new systems, they are what we call manoeuvrable.

But not all experts believe the promise of hypersonic missiles will live up to reality.

“They fly high in the atmosphere, but they go in a different area where we are not used to looking. They’re completely new to everybody and that’s part of the challenge they present.”

Senior fellow at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, Andrew Davies, says the missiles are harder to defend against, although he thinks they’re being “over-hyped”.

He believes the ability to change a missile’s course mid-flight is limited.

“They can’t manoeuvre abruptly, because at very high speeds you’re limited to what sorts of movement you can do. It does complicate the job of the defence, though, which is an advantage.”

Who’s winning the global race?

While several countries including India, Australia, Japan, France and North Korea are investing in the technology, the main race for hypersonic capabilities is between superpowers: Russia, China and the United States.

In March this year, Russia claimed it had achieved a major milestone by launching two hypersonic Kinzhal missiles against Ukraine.

But experts are sceptical about exactly how significant its use was, with Professor Boyd explaining the missiles used are “relatively unsophisticated” old-generation hypersonic weapons.

“They’re just a missile with a rocket on the back that made them go very fast,” he said.

“They’re still relying on where they were at the end of the Cold War. They haven’t really advanced a lot.”

A greater concern for the West, Professor Boyd says, is China, which he believes already has combat-ready next-generation hypersonic missiles.

Last year, it was reported China tested a nuclear-capable hypersonic missile that flew around the earth before speeding towards and hitting its target.

“If they were really able to hit their target with some accuracy that is quite impressive,” Professor Boyd said pointing out the test may have been “posturing” by Beijing. 

“The US and none of the Western allies have that capability today, although there’s a lot of efforts underway to get to that point.”