United States Lags Behind Russia and China in Hypersonic technologies

Russia and China are already ahead of the United States in developing, manufacturing, and testing hypersonic missiles, according to experts at the Hudson Institute.

The Voice of America reported on this, citing the Hudson Institute experts.

“China is building a huge number of hypersonic missiles. They plan to have a large stockpile by the end of the decade, despite the fact that they already have a lot. Russia also has some hypersonic missile capability. We have seen them used in Ukraine. Unfortunately, this led to the loss of many lives. The Russians are behind China, but they are still far ahead of us. Russia has been researching hypersonic technology for the past 40 years. In particular, the Kinzhal hypersonic missiles were also used in Ukraine,” said Doug Lamborn, co-chair of the House Hypersonic Technology Caucus.

According to the congressman, the U.S. military command is preparing for a potential war in which the U.S. Air Force will have to hit enemy targets at a very long range. But the U.S. has only slow cruise missiles in service that “are not capable of hitting strategic targets fast enough and far enough.”

“What really unites us in hypersonic technology is the understanding that we were leading the world in hypersonic technology. But as soon as we let off the gas a little bit and turned off the engine, we saw China and Russia literally fly past us in front. And also when we see what happened in Ukraine. People are very concerned. The combination of these issues really speaks to the concern,” said Congressman Donald Norcross, Democrat of the House Armed Services Committee.

Hypersonic weapons of the USA

As of September 2024, the U.S. Army is developing two hypersonic weapon projects: the HACM hypersonic cruise missile for the Air Force and the LRHW hypersonic glider for the Army and Navy.

The Hypersonic Attack Cruise Missile (HACM) is being developed in cooperation between Australia and the United States. In particular, Australia plans to equip its F/A-18F Super Hornet fighters with them in the future.

The missile is expected to have a range of 2000 km and will be ready in 2027. It will be integrated into the weapon control system of the Australian F/A-18F Super Hornet and the US F-15E/EX aircraft.

The missile battery armed with the Long-Range Hypersonic Weapon (LRHW) has already been deployed for the first time during the exercises on July 18, 2024.

The hypersonic missile system was deployed by the 1st U.S. Army Task Force during the Resolute Hunter exercise. In addition to its deployment, the system was integrated into the Army-wide command and control system, which allowed the task force to target using coordinates transmitted by airborne surveillance aircraft and other radio equipment.

The Long-Range Hypersonic Weapon (LRHW) system, according to official statements by the U.S. Army, can hit ground targets at a range of over 3,000 km.

The system has already been tested by real launches, during which the glider traveled more than 3,000 km from Hawaii to the Marshall Islands and hit the target. The first production missiles are expected to enter service with the Army in 2025.