The United States still does not have sufficiently developed technologies to create hypersonic weapons, and therefore the program for their deployment may be implemented with a long delay. This is stated in the report Hypersonic Weapons (“Hypersonic weapons”) of the US Congressional Budget Office (GAO), published on Monday, March 22.
“We have identified a number of critical technologies that were underdeveloped at the start of the program, this can create obstacles to achieving its goals,” the authors of the document said.
In particular, the authors of the report note, many of these problems are associated with the technical complexity of hypersonic systems exposed to extreme loads during test flights.
In August 2020, the US Congressional Research Service reported that the specialized institutes of the US Armed Forces are working in three areas in the field of hypersonic weapons: a non-nuclear rapid strike (Conventional Prompt Strike, a gliding unit and a ballistic missile launched from Virginia-class submarines), long-range hypersonic weapons actions (Long-Range Hypersonic Weapon, the development of the ground forces – a planning unit with a range of about 2,200 kilometers) and air-based rapid response weapons (AGM-183 Air-Launched Rapid Response Weapon – a warhead capable of reaching speeds of up to Mach 20 and a flight range about 925 km).
On December 24, 2020, the American profile publication reported that the US attempt to launch the first experimental missile with the concept of hypersonic air-jet weapons failed. In early September, the Pentagon announced successful tests of prototype hypersonic missiles.
On October 15, the technical characteristics of the future American hypersonic missile AGM-183A Air-Launched Rapid Response Weapon became known. So, the projectile will be able to develop a speed of 6.5-8 Mach and will be able to hit a target at a distance of 1.6 thousand km in 10-12 minutes.
In the spring, US President Donald Trump announced the creation of “super-duper missiles” that would be worse than Russian ones.