- General John E. Hyten, the Commander of US Strategic Command, admitted that the US has no real defenses against hypersonic weapons that are being "aggressively" pursued by China and Russia.
- The only defense against such weapons, Hyten said on Tuesday, is the threat of a US nuclear response.
- The general said he wanted more investment in radar stations and space infrastructure that can detect any of these weapons, but even that is challenging because of threats to US space dominance, how hypersonic missiles function, and a lack of resources.
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China and Russia are 'aggressively pursuing' hypersonic weapons — and the US doesn't have any defenses
General John Hyten, Commander of US Strategic Command, admitted that "we don't have any defense that could deny the employment" of hypersonic weapons.
US Air Force General John E. Hyten, the Commander of US Strategic Command, made a worrying admission on Tuesday about the state of US defenses against hypersonic weapons: They don't really exist.
While hypersonic weapons are still largely in either the conceptual or testing phase, Russia and China have been making headway on their respective programs.
China tested a functional hypersonic glide vehicle (HGV) in November 2017, and Russian tested a hypersonic weapon only a few weeks after President Vladimir Putin boasted that he has an "invincible" hypersonic missile in early March.
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"Both Russia and China are aggressively pursuing hypersonic capabilities," Hyten said at a Senate Armed Services hearing on Tuesday. "We've watched them test those capabilities."
When asked by Republican Senator
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