Washington, D.C.: The Pentagon has announced that it has successfully completed a test of a “breathable air” hypersonic missile.
Simply put, it would be a missile that would reach from Beijing to Beijing in just two hours.
The experiment was conducted last week by teams from Raytheon Technologies and Northrop Grumman, under the auspices of the Pentagon’s DARPA.
It should be noted that in technical language, five times or more speed than sound is called “hypersonic”, while “air-breathing” weapons absorb the surrounding air during flight and use their fuel. They burn together and move rapidly, emitting a strong gust of hot gas.
The hypersonic weapons project, called the Hawks (Hypersonic Air Browsing Weapons Concept), has been under construction since 2013 under the auspices of the US Defense Research Organization (DARPA).
The global arms race has reached a new turning point in recent months, and the United States is unwilling to lag behind.
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army already has a significant number of hypersonic missiles, while in July this year Russia also announced the successful test of a new hypersonic cruise missile called the Zircon.
On that occasion, Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed that no cruise missile in the world could compete with it.
After Russia, North Korea also announced successful tests of hypersonic missiles, adding to concerns at the Pentagon.
Although it still takes many years for American hypersonic weapons technology to be put into practice, the timing of the Pentagon’s announcement shows that the United States wants to maintain its professional and technological superiority in the Cold War of the 21st century.