The United States is successfully testing hypersonic technology in a “vital step” toward a new weapon

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Russia also has hypersonic technology, Wood said, and while the United States has held back from developing a military capability in this area, it now has no choice but to respond in kind.

“If you’re a country that’s the target of this, you’re going to want to find a way to defend yourself from that,” he said.

“And so we started looking at what other defensive applications and applications you can offer to hypersonic technology – and so that continues to accelerate the arms race.”

China unveiled a hypersonic medium-range missile, the DF-17, in 2019, that can travel 2,000 kilometers (1,200 miles) and can carry nuclear warheads.

The missile mentioned in the FT story is a different missile, with a longer range. It can be launched into orbit before re-entering the atmosphere to hit its target.

Russia recently launched a hypersonic missile, Zircon, from a submarine, and since late 2019 has had Avangard hypersonic missiles in service. Avangard can travel at speeds of up to 27 Mach, changing its course and altitude.

The Pentagon hopes to deploy its first hypersonic weapons by 2025 and has said developing them is one of its “top priorities”.

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