Special to WorldTribune.com
Bill Gertz, Washington Free Beacon
Congress is pressing the Pentagon’s Missile Defense Agency to counter the growing threat of high-speed, maneuvering missiles.
An amendment to the current defense authorization bill passed by the House Armed Services Committee last week would require the agency to develop and fund a program to defeat hypersonic missiles. The legislation calls for creating a dedicated program to counter “hypersonic boost-glide and maneuvering ballistic missiles” that can include co-development with other agencies or nations. …
The high-technology maneuvering gliders are launched on ballistic missiles and skim the upper atmosphere at speeds of 7,500 miles per hour or greater. They then glide and maneuver toward ground targets. …
Russia carried out a flight test of its experimental Yu-71 hypersonic glider on an SS-19 intercontinental ballistic missile on April 19. Three days later, China conducted the seventh successful flight test of its new DF-ZF hypersonic glider on a missile that flew from central China to the western part of the country.
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