Pentagon scrambles to counter new hypersonic threats from China, Russia

Special to WorldTribune.com

Bill Gertz, Inside the Ring, Washington Times

The Missile Defense Agency has tasked a major defense contractor to develop advanced missiles capable of knocking out maneuvering, ultrahigh-speed targets such as China’s high-tech Wu-14 hypersonic glide vehicle.

Artist's concept of China's Wu-14 hypersonic glide vehicle.
Artist’s concept of China’s Wu-14 hypersonic glide vehicle.

Missile defense specialists at Lockheed Martin, the main contractor for the Pentagon’s agency, told reporters Wednesday that an extended-range version of the Army’s Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense system is being developed to deal with hypersonic threats.

Hypersonic missiles are maneuvering strike vehicles launched atop missiles that travel at speeds of up to Mach 10, or 10 times the speed of sound. They maneuver and glide along the edge of space, making them difficult targets for missile defenses. Current U.S. missile defense sensors and interceptors are designed primarily to hit ballistic missile warheads that travel in predictable flight paths from launch, through space and into ground targets.

China surprised U.S. intelligence agencies last year by conducting three flight tests of the Wu-14 in January, August and December. The vehicle traveled at speeds up to Mach 10, or nearly 8,000 miles per hour. U.S. intelligence agencies assessed the Wu-14 to be a nuclear delivery vehicle designed to break through U.S. defenses. In addition to China, Russia and India are working on hypersonic strike vehicles. A U.S. test of a hypersonic missile blew up shortly after launch in August. U.S. officials are concerned that hypersonic technology will proliferate to the missile systems of North Korea and Iran, the main focus of current U.S. missile defenses.

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