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The United States exposed the weakness of Russia’s hypersonic missiles which have been heralded as invincible weapons. Photo/Russian Ministry of Defense via TASS
WASHINGTON – The United States (US) Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has a new report that highlights some of the weaknesses of hypersonic missile Russia heralded as an invincible weapon.
Hypersonic weapons are in vogue right now, with Russia and China both positioning the ultra-fast and maneuverable missile as an almost unbeatable superweapon.
But a new report from the CBO points to the limitations of the new weapon and highlights that there is still a long way to go before it becomes a reality.
According to the CBO report, the fancy new weapon ran extremely hot during testing, which could lead to production. They also cost billions of dollars more than cheaper alternatives that perform just as well in most contexts.
Also read: Russian Warships Simulate Zircon Hypersonic Missile Attacks in the Atlantic
“US Hypersonic Weapons and Alternatives” is a new CBO report that examines the current state of America’s hypersonic weapons system.
Hypersonic weapons are weapons that travel five times the speed of sound or Mach 5. The US is developing different variations of the weapon but has yet to deploy any despite announcing successful weapons trials.
In January, Moscow claimed it had deployed a nuclear-capable hypersonic missile on the battleship Admiral Gorshkov and called the weapon “invincible.”
Last year, China successfully tested a hypersonic missile in front of an American satellite. “I don’t know if it’s quite a Sputnik moment, but I think it’s very close to it,” US Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark A Milley said at the time.
The essence of a hypersonic weapon is a missile that flies so fast that traditional countermeasures cannot knock it out of the sky. Defense contractors also designed some weapons to be maneuverable at high speed, which would hypothetically allow the weapon to evade enemy attacks intended to destroy it before it reaches its target.
