The United States is actively pursuing the development of hypersonic weapons in view of rising threats from Russia and China.

A new report on the topic suggests that the U.S. hypersonic weapons will likely require greater accuracy – as they will carry conventional warheads.

Therefore, they will be more technically challenging to develop than nuclear-armed Chinese and Russian systems.

The report titled ‘Hypersonic Weapons: Background and Issues for Congress’ aims to highlight the questions that the U.S. Congress might face in sanctioning funds and selecting a program for Pentagon’s weapon development.

The report prepared by Congressional Research Service was released on December 2, and it details the hypersonic weapon capability of Russia, China, and also the progress made by U.S. and allied countries’ programs.

Challenges with U.S. hypersonic weapons program

The report states that while the Department of Defense is funding a number of hypersonic weapons programs, it has not established any programs of record, “suggesting that it may not have approved requirements for hypersonic weapons or long-term funding plans.”

The problem is that the DOD has not made any decision to acquire hypersonic weapons, till date it is just developing prototypes to identify the best concept – from which a selection can be made on a later date.

This leads to the issue of a lack of mission requirements, which leads to a number of contrasting views on costs and quantities needed.

Earlier, senior DOD officials have stated that it intends to buy weapons at a scale and give them to warfighters.

The report suggests that as Congress conducts oversight of U.S. hypersonic weapons programs, “it may seek to obtain information about DOD’s evaluation of potential mission sets for hypersonic weapons, a cost analysis of hypersonic weapons and alternative means of executing potential mission sets.

It also asks for conducting an assessment of the enabling technologies—“such as space-based sensors or autonomous command and control systems—that may be required to employ or defend against hypersonic weapons.”

Budget constraints

An earlier Congressional Budget Office assessment had stated that hypersonic weapons might cost one-third more than ballistic missiles of the same range with maneuverable warheads.

It had also pointed out that they probably would not be more survivable than ballistic missiles – unless the latter encounters a highly-effective long-range air defense system.

Moreover, in FY 2025 the DOD had requested $182.3 million for the hypersonic defense program element and $6.9 billion for offensive hypersonic weapons program.

The report states that due to the lack of defined mission requirements for weapon development, it may be challenging for Congress to evaluate the balance of funding for hypersonic weapons programs, enabling technologies, supporting test infrastructure, and hypersonic missile defense.

International concerns, risk, and more factors

The report also cites critics who state that the hypersonic weapon’s high speed and unpredictable flight path could generate uncertainty about its intended target. This could heighten the risk of miscalculation or unintended escalation in the event of a conflict.

Moreover, the ambiguity over whether a hypersonic weapon is carrying a nuclear or conventional warhead could also cause unintended escalation.

The other side’s arguments that Russia and China possess these type of weapons which can be used to target the U.S. and wreak havoc on its defense system in case of escalation are also taken into account.

The report also quotes experts who state that the U.S. should take some measures like expanding New START, negotiating new multilateral arms control agreements, and undertaking transparency and confidence-building measures with other countries to mitigate risks.

US and other countries with hypersonic weapon capability

Several countries are developing or have already developed weapons, which fly at speeds of at least Mach 5 (five times the speed of sound).

There are two primary categories of these weapons:
• Hypersonic glide vehicles are launched from a rocket before gliding to a target.7
• Hypersonic cruise missiles are powered by high-speed, air-breathing engines, or
“scramjets,” after acquiring their target.

The DOD is currently developing hypersonic weapons under the Navy’s CPS, and HALO program, as well as US Army’s LRHW, and HACM missions. These are in the process alongside several other programs being run by DARPA.

Its backers state that the weapons would act as deterrence and allow the US to win the wars of the future.

The report states that Russia is pursuing two hypersonic weapons programs—the Avangard and the 3M22 Tsirkon (or Zircon)—and has reportedly fielded the Kinzhal (“Dagger”), a maneuvering air-launched ballistic missile.

The Avangard, as per Russian news sources, entered into combat duty in December 2019, and it reportedly carries a nuclear warhead.

The Zircon is a ship-launched hypersonic cruise missile capable of hitting both land and sea-based targets. It had been first launched into Ukraine in February 2024.

Similarly, the air-launched Kinzhal missile has also been used by Russia for attacking Ukraine.

China, on the other hand, has fielded the DF-ZF hypersonic glide vehicle (previously referred to as the WU-14) in 2020, alongside the DF-17 missile. It has also successfully tested  Starry Sky-2 (or Xing Kong-2), a nuclear-capable hypersonic vehicle prototype, in August 2018.

Some reports mention that the Starry Sky-2 could be operational by 2025. Moreover, China is devoted to weapon development in this category and is carrying out several tests at wind tunnels and on ground to develop other systems.

Other countries like India, South Korea, Australia, France, are also involved in experimenting with hypersonic weapon development programs and may soon be able to field them.

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