Russia and China Are Catching Up on Hypersonic Missiles Amid US Neglect, Expert Says

(Source military.com)  Russian President Vladimir Putin boasted Sunday of nearing deployment of nuclear-tipped hypersonic missiles with his Navy, upping the ante in a three-way arms race with the U.S. and China to develop super-fast missiles that can penetrate any existing defensive system.

At the annual naval parade in St. Petersburg, Putin did not detail specifically when hypersonic missiles would be deployed, but the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement that the weapons are in the final stages of testing. “The widespread deployment of advanced digital technologies that have no equals in the world, including hypersonic strike systems and underwater drones, will give the fleet unique advantages and increased combat capabilities,” Putin said. China has also made significant advances in hypersonics, according to Dr. Mark Lewis, director of Defense Research and Engineering for Modernization at the Defense Department. Last October, Chinese President Xi Jinping presided at a military parade marking the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China. During the parade, a purported vehicle-mounted DF-17 hypersonic nuclear missile was displayed. At a June 30 Hudson Institute discussion, Lewis said both China and Russia have taken advantage of a lull in U.S. modernization to make advances in what he called the “game changer” technology of hypersonics. “I’m often accused of saying speed is the new stealth,” he said, stressing the need for more focus and investment on hypersonics. Stealth properties make bombers and fighters difficult to track, but hypersonic missiles traveling at speeds well in excess of Mach 5 mean that “you see me a little bit too late to do anything,” Lewis said. The advantage of hypersonic missiles is usually “thought of only as speed,” he explained, adding that it’s actually speed plus the ability to change trajectory, giving the missiles the capability of “penetrating from long ranges with tremendous resilience.”