The U.S. military successfully tested hypersonic weapon component prototypes in October, according to the Pentagon. A day later, the program reportedly suffered a setback. The tests came as President Joe Biden expressed his own concern regarding suspected hypersonic missiles from China. General Mark Milley voiced concern, as well.
“I don’t know if it’s quite a Sputnik moment, but I think it’s very close to that,” Milley said on Bloomberg Television. “It has all of our attention.”
A hypersonic missile is a vehicle that moves at five times the speed of sound–faster than a mile per second. Missile defense experts said hypersonic missiles are generally faster than intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs). Hypersonic missiles also travel lower in the atmosphere. These factors significantly shorten the travel time from launch to impact.
“The go-to scenario for ICBM is about 25 to 30 minutes from launch,” RAND Corporation associate engineer Fabian Villalobos said. “If we’re talking about a hypersonic system, that chain of events could be shortened down to below 10 minutes.”
