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Explainer | What are hypersonic weapons, and why is there a race between China, the US and others to develop them?
- Security experts have warned that the escalating competition could end in military conflict
- The high speed and manoeuvrability of such missiles is a challenge for air defence systems
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When China’s DF-17 ballistic missile featured in a military parade in 2019, it became the first country in the world to publicly reveal a hypersonic weapon.
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China also recently announced it had made breakthroughs in heat-seeking technology for such weapons, which the United States – having significantly increased funding for hypersonic research – has said it may not have until 2025.
Security experts have warned that an escalating arms race between China, the US and Russia to develop hypersonic weapons could end in military conflict, while the US has sanctioned North Korea over this month’s test launches of a hypersonic glider.
Hypersonic weapon programmes are highly secretive, with little public information about them, and as the technology advances they are changing fast.
Here’s what we know from information released by sources including the People’s Liberation Army, its Rocket Force University of Engineering and its National Defence University, as well as the US Department of Defence.
What are hypersonic weapons, exactly?
Hypersonic weapons are those that can travel at five times the speed of sound, or faster, in the air.
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