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Defense Speak Interpreted: Hypersonics Report Back After Six Years of Silence

It’s been six years since my Defense Speaks column about hypersonic weapons. Back then, these weapons were the most sought-after technology as there was little defense for them. They were the cornerstone of the “strike any location on earth within one hour” scenario. Of course, the war in Ukraine, and now the action in Iran, have grabbed the weapons headlines, but hypersonics still play a role and development continues. Here is the update.  

• Weapon travels at least 5x the speed of sound: Mach 5 to as much as Mach 25
• Operates in the atmosphere, not in space like an intercontinental ballistic missile
• Can be launched from land, sea, or from an already airborne plane. 
• Two basic propulsion systems, either with a self-contained oxidizer like a rocket, or it uses high speed to compress the Earth’s atmosphere to provide oxygen, known as “scramjet”

Since this weapon operates in Earth’s atmosphere, there is tremendous friction, just as any object—asteroid, space shuttle, or ICBM—gets “glowingly hot” in its travel. Meteors burn up and ICBMs/space shuttles have ceramic heat-shield tiles to protect electronics (and astronauts).   However, hypersonics complete their entire mission in Earth's atmosphere; they must reach an equilibrium temperature that will not destroy the flight guidance or electronic countermeasures. This issue of materials of construction remains problematic for U.S. weapons.   In fact, the U.S. has not yet deployed a successful hypersonic weapon, but it will soon. In fact, the U.S. has at least 70 programs addressing various aspects of the hypersonic weapon problem.  

Here is an overview of hypersonic programs.¹

Now, let’s cover the different programs and relate them back to 2020.

Major Program

Dark Eagle (LRHW): The Army version is the Long Range Hypersonic Weapon (LRHW).

Conv. Prompt Strike: The Navy weapon is the CPS (Conventional Prompt Strike) and is designed to be submarine launched. The Common Hypersonic Glide Body (C-HGB) is the shell for both the Navy and Army weapons. Reportedly, the Navy is working on the Glide body and the Army is working the weapons package to be delivered.

Avangard: In 2020, Vladimir Putin has boasted that Russia’s Avangard “boost-glide” system is capable of carrying 2-megaton nuclear weapon at 27 times the speed of sound. Today, Avangard is reportedly on combat duty as a strategic nuclear deterrent.

Kinzhal/Zircon: Both have been launched at Ukraine in the current conflict.   

DF-17 Comment from 2020: China successfully tested its own hypersonic missiles, dubbed the Xingkong-2 or “Starry Sky-2, and the Dong Feng 17, or DF-17, displayed at a recent military parade.

GDF-600 Update: The newer GDF-600 glide vehicle unveiled in late 2024.

Hwasong-8/12b: No North Korean work on hypersonics was mentioned in my 2020 column. However, North Korea claims to have viable, working hypersonic weapons after multiple tests in 2022 and 2024. 

The previously mentioned Air Force work, shelved after test failures, has been resurrected in the 2026 budget.  

Finally, Japan was not mentioned in 2020, but Japan is developing its Hyper Velocity Gliding Projectile (HVGP) for service entry in 2026. 

As stated above, Russia is mixing in hypersonic missiles with a larger number of cruise missiles and ever-larger drones in coordinated attacks on Ukraine. Usually, the hypersonics are mixed in 2-8 per day. Reportedly, Russia now has manufacturing capacity of 10–15 hypersonic missiles per month.   

Lastly, the hypersonics were regarded as “unstoppable” in 2020. However, there has been some success by the Ukrainians in using U.S.-made Patriot anti-missile batteries to take out some of the incoming Russian hypersonics.  

While drone strikes and cruise missiles have taken most of the headlines in the current Ukrainian and Iranian conflicts, hypersonics continue in development, as the U.S. rushes to try to maintain parity in an ever-changing weapons race.  

References

1. Global Hypersonic Arsenal Overview, March 2026.

Denny Fritz was a 20-year direct employee of MacDermid Inc. and retired after 12 years as a senior engineer supporting the Naval Surface Warfare Center in Crane, Indiana.​​​​