US Partners With Key Allies to Develop Hypersonic Missiles

US Partners With Key Allies to Develop Hypersonic Missiles

(WatchDogReport.org) – The United States, Australia, and the United Kingdom entered into an Indo-Pacific alliance known as AUKUS. The three countries involved in the pact are coming together to work on one of the world’s looming issues: hypersonic missiles.

The purpose of these weapons is speed. Hypersonics travel at speeds at least five times the speed of sound, leaving traditional missiles – and missile defense systems – in the dust.

The triad of AUKUS nations will work to continue developing offensive and defensive systems related to hypersonics. The US is already deep into its developmental stages. The UK, a current US and NATO ally, is presumably in the loop.

China’s development and successful testing of its own system create an urgency to ensure balance in the region. Russia, whose program is much further along than most, has hypersonics deployed in Ukraine and aggressively seeks to expand its capability to deliver nuclear warheads across the globe in minutes.

The development of hypersonic missiles presents particular challenges to a field dominated by American defense weapons since The Persian Gulf War in 1991. Starting with the humble beginnings of the Patriot missile through the development of a hit-to-kill system known as THAAD, shooting missiles out of the sky is something the US military is very good at. The new generation of lightning-fast weaponry, however, presents challenges that will require time and cooperation to meet.

It would appear that the arrival of missiles with super speed has ignited an all-new arms race, with the planet’s major players all sprinting to the finish.

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