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How hypersonic weapons sparked new arms race between Russia, China, US


WASHINGTON — In March 2018, Russian President Vladimir Putin touted his nation’s budding arsenal by unveiling a slew of new hypersonic weapons.Of the six new weapons Putin unveiled, CNBC learned that two of them, a hypersonic glide vehicle and an air-launched cruise missile, will be ready for war by 2020.What’s more, China announced in 2018 that it had conducted the first successful testing of a hypersonic aircraft, a feat the United States has yet to accomplish.The paces made by Russia and China have triggered a three-way arms race in developing this new breed of weapon.The U.S. does not have a defense against hypersonic weapons, which can travel at least five times the speed of sound, or a little more than a mile per second. Combined with blistering speed, maneuverability and long-range flight, these weapons are difficult to track, target and defeat.Watch the video above to learn more about the hypersonic arms race and what that means for the defense industry.

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