US navy in hypersonic missile test

WASHINGTON: The US has successfully tested hypersonic missile technology, a new weapons system that is already being deployed by both China and Russia.

The test, conducted at a NASA facility in Virginia, was a “vital step in the development of a navy-designed common hypersonic missile”, the US navy said in a statement.

“This test demonstrated advanced hypersonic technologies, capabilities, and prototype systems in a realistic operating environment.”

Hypersonic missiles, like traditional ballistic missiles, can fly more than five times the speed of sound (Mach 5).

However, they are more manoeuverable than their ballistic counterparts and can trace a low trajectory in the atmosphere, making them harder to defend against.

China has launched a hypersonic missile that completed a circuit of the planet before landing, missing its target.

Beijing insisted that the test was a routine one for a spacecraft rather than a missile.