Just as stealth helped the U.S. gain unrivaled air superiority a generation ago, the race to develop hypersonic systems could be a game changer in the global balance of military power. Hypersonic weapons fly faster than Mach 5 and, unlike ballistic missiles, they are highly maneu-verable. In short, they could enable an aggressor to attack aircraft carriers or bases with a weapon that is almost impossible to shoot down.Having helped raise the alarm over the serious threat from China and Russia in hypersonics, Michael Griffin, the Pentagon's new undersecretary of defense for research and engineering, says the real work of developing offensive and defensive hypervelocity weapons systems is only just beginning. Griffin's warning, delivered at a recent American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics conference, was a sobering reality check. Although the U.S. has been studying the field for longer than any nation, he says the list of critical challenges is "surprisingly longer" than anyone might think.
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