Does Russia Already Have an Air-Launched Hypersonic Missile?
The hypersonics weapons race, fueled by a vigorous, accelerated U.S. effort within just the last few years, is defined by an intense competition between Russia, China and the United States, which some pose the question as to whether the United States has fallen behind.
The U.S. Air Force plans to fire hypersonic weapons from its now operational F-15EX aircraft, a plan which most likely applies to a wide sphere of platforms to possibly include the F-35 and F-22 jets among others. The hypersonics weapons race, fueled by a vigorous, accelerated U.S. effort within just the last few years, is defined by an intense competition between Russia, China and the United States, which some pose the question as to whether the United States has fallen behind. Regardless of the particular maturation of each country’s hypersonic weapons, it is clear that they promise to change existing warfare paradigms with new levels of range, speed and precision.