How to Meet the Threat of Hypersonic Missiles
Defense planners are right to worry about a menacing new technology. The key is to avoid a costly overreaction.
Don’t panic.
Photographer: Yuri Kadobnov/AFP/Getty Images
Headlines about Russia’s use of “hypersonic” missiles in Ukraine have fueled fears that the U.S. is falling behind its rivals in developing such weapons. Although the U.S. needs a strategy to counter the push by Russia and China to deploy hypersonic arsenals, it should be cautious about splurging on new technologies the military doesn’t actually need.
Hypersonic weapons fall into two categories: glide vehicles that are launched on booster rockets before detaching and gliding to a target, and cruise missiles that use oxygen to generate propulsion. Both travel at least five times faster than sound, but that’s true of nearly all ballistic missiles. What distinguishes hypersonics is their ability to fly low and maneuver instead of following a trackable arc — meaning they could potentially evade U.S. missile defenses.