Hypersonics

Hypersonic weapons combine speed (Mach 5+), maneuvering flight within the atmosphere, and depressed trajectories to defeat traditional missile defenses that assume ballistic arcs. Two families dominate development: boost-glide vehicles launched to altitude by a rocket then glided at hypersonic speed to target, and scramjet-powered cruise weapons that sustain hypersonic flight under their own power. U.S. development spans the Army LRHW, Navy Conventional Prompt Strike, Air Force HACM and ARRW (cancelled 2023), and DARPA programs. Defensive hypersonic detection and interception relies on space-based sensors (SDA tracking layer) and next- generation interceptors (GPI). Adversary hypersonic systems include Russia's Avangard and Zircon and China's DF-17; U.S. counter-hypersonic efforts are documented publicly through MDA and service program offices.