US: "Our Hypersonic Missile Technology Lags Behind China and Russia"

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Suhwan] Voices of concern are rising in the United States over China and Russia's development of hypersonic missiles.

According to The Hill, David Thompson, commander of the U.S. Space Command, reportedly said at the 'Halifax International Security Forum' held on the 20th (local time) in Nova Scotia, Canada, that the U.S. hypersonic missiles have not advanced as much as those of China or Russia.

He emphasized that the U.S. lagging behind these two countries poses a potential national security risk and stated, "We must catch up very quickly."

In particular, he evaluated, "China has an incredible hypersonic program," adding, "It is a very concerning development. It makes strategic warning issues very complicated."

Unlike intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), which follow a parabolic trajectory to the target point, hypersonic missiles have irregular glide trajectories and travel at speeds of Mach 5 (1.7 km per second), making interception difficult.

A major foreign media outlet reported last month that China secretly test-fired a hypersonic missile capable of carrying nuclear weapons in August.

Russia has also conducted successive test launches of the hypersonic missile 'Tsirkon' from frigates and nuclear submarines this year.

The U.S. Congressional Research Service (CRS) evaluated in materials submitted to Congress last month that most U.S. hypersonic missiles are not designed to carry nuclear warheads, unlike those of China and Russia, resulting in the U.S. falling behind.

Earlier, Mark Milley, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, described the news of China's hypersonic missile tests last month as "very close to the Sputnik moment," referring to the significant shock the U.S. experienced when the former Soviet Union launched the world's first artificial satellite, Sputnik 1, in October 1957.

John Hyten, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, expressed concern on the 16th, stating, "In the past five years, China has conducted hundreds of hypersonic weapons tests, but the U.S. has only conducted nine."

The U.S. announced last month that the Navy and Army jointly succeeded in testing a prototype of hypersonic missile components at a base in Virginia.

However, a hypersonic glide vehicle (HGV) test conducted at a base in Alaska the same month failed due to a malfunction of the booster rocket carrying it.

The U.S. Department of Defense aims to deploy the first hypersonic missile to the Army by 2024, but achieving this is challenging. For the Navy, deployment on destroyers is planned for 2025, with submarine deployment targeted for 2028.

The U.S. is reviewing a budget proposal for next year allocating $3.8 billion (approximately 3.57 trillion KRW) for hypersonic missile development.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.