Hypersonic Weapons

Hypersonic weapons split into two families: boost-glide vehicles, where a rocket carries an unpowered glider that maneuvers in the upper atmosphere, and scramjet-powered cruise missiles. Russia fielded the Avangard ICBM-launched glider in 2019 and the Kinzhal air-launched ballistic missile, used in Ukraine since 2022. China's DF-17 and the YJ-21 anti-ship variant fly operationally. The United States has lagged: the Army's Long Range Hypersonic Weapon (Dark Eagle) and the Navy's Conventional Prompt Strike share a common glide body, and the air-launched HACM scramjet is in development. The class threatens to compress decision timelines and bypass conventional missile defenses.