The US military announced on Monday that it has successfully tested a hypersonic missile, a cutting-edge technology that China and Russia are also developing on their side.
The AGM-183A ARRW hypersonic cruise missile was launched this Friday from a B52 strategic bomber off the coast of California and achieved “a hypersonic speed five times the speed of sound, followed its flight path and exploded” in ‘planned area, the Air Force said.
Able to deliver a nuclear weapon
The US is developing several supersonic weapons programs and Darpa, the US military’s science arm, tested a different type of hypersonic missile earlier this year.
Hypersonic missiles, capable of delivering a nuclear weapon to a precise target, are designed to fly at high speed and low altitude, and to change direction in flight and not follow a linear and predictable trajectory, which makes their interception.
Russia, North Korea, China…
China tested a hypersonic missile in 2021 that circled the Earth in orbit before descending on its target, which it missed by just a few miles. Russia, for its part, has said it has twice used hypersonic missiles in Ukraine and North Korea also claims to have carried out flight tests.
“Supersonic weapons, designed to evade US sensors and defense systems, pose an increasingly complex threat due to their dual (nuclear and conventional) capability, challenging flight path and maneuverability,” the US warned in a recent report.
Original article published on BFMTV.com
