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The document, compiled by an agency responsible for briefing US lawmakers on military affairs and other matters, suggests Russia and China may have fielded operational hypersonic glide vehicles potentially armed with nuclear warheads. The US hypersonic program was not designed for use with nuclear warheads and did not achieve operational status.
The document cites congressional testimony by Michael Griffin, the former undersecretary of defense for research and engineering, who briefed lawmakers.
“(The US) does not yet have systems that can harm (China and Russia) in a suitable way, and has no defense against (their) systems,” he said. Sputnik, Sunday (18/7/2021).
The report goes on to show that the current US military budget includes $3.2 billion for hypersonic weapons research, while requests for fiscal year 2022 call for an additional $600 million. In addition, the Missile Defense Agency has made a separate $247.9 million request for hypersonic defense.
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“The Pentagon has not established a record program for hypersonic weapons, or made a decision to acquire such a weapon,” the report added. Instead, the military has chosen to continue to formulate and evaluate prototypes, system concepts, and mission sets.
The US has more than half a dozen hypersonic weapons systems in development, including the Air-launched Rapid Response Weapon (ARRW) for the Air Force, the Army-Navy Common Hypersonic Glide Body (CHGB), and the Navy Intermediate Conventional Prompt Strike (CPS), Range Hypersonic Weapon. Army Remote (LRHW), Hypersonic Conventional Strike Weapon (HCSW) for the Air Force, Hypersonic Air-breathing Weapon Concept (HAWC) also for the Air Force, and DARPA’s Operational Fires.
Among these projects, only the CHGB comes close to operational capability, with the Army announcing earlier this year that it expects to start fielding the single-unit weapon in September.
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