US-China-Russia Hypersonic Weapons Race Accelerates

A hypersonic missile is defined as a weapon capable of speeds exceeding Mach 5, more than five times the speed of sound, while maintaining the ability to perform sharp, sustained maneuvers within the Earth's atmosphere. This combination of speed, maneuverability, and trajectory complicates detection, continuous tracking, and interception prediction, as noted by Eva Sula, a senior fellow at the Baltic International Security Center. Lockheed Martin's new ARRW missiles are cited as providing a critical capability to counter emerging threats.

China's reported lead in this defense area is attributed to several specific factors. It gained an early mover's advantage by deploying the world's first operational hypersonic weapon system in 2020, which includes the DF-17 medium-range ballistic missile and DF-ZF hypersonic glide vehicle (HGV). This early deployment was reportedly aided by China's development of conventional missiles, which were not constrained by the INF arms control agreement, providing a foundation for hypersonic boosters, according to John Van Oudenaren of BluePath Labs.

Furthermore, China is cited as the only country to have successfully integrated an HGV with a Fractional Orbital Bombardment System (FOBS), a method that places a weapon into low-Earth orbit before targeting. Beijing's 2021 tests demonstrated this integration, including one instance where a separate projectile was fired mid-flight from a hypersonic vehicle without destabilizing its path or destroying the craft, a feat that reportedly surprised the Pentagon. China also benefits from a testing infrastructure described as more varied and expansive than that of the US.