Research Analyst Shawn Rostker spoke with The Minnesota Daily about hypersonic missiles.
“The logic goes that when you launch this hypersonic glide vehicle, it doesn’t have to go on the traditional long arching, 30-minute journey that intercontinental ballistic missiles take,” said Shawn Rostker, research analyst with the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation.
Rostker said hypersonic technology advocates suggest onboard sensors and other capabilities will allow these systems to sense and then evade counter defenses.
These weapons have yet to be widely deployed. Several countries, including China, Russia and the United States, have invested in burgeoning hypersonic programs to support their development.
Rostker said one concern the United States has is that a hypersonic glide vehicle launched from China can travel over the poles, where the U.S. has sensing infrastructure set up to detect intercontinental ballistic missiles.
“But the problem is that these hypersonic glide vehicles fly low enough that they fall outside the range of detection from our early warning satellites,” Rostker said.
While some analysts, including Rostker, are skeptical of the proposed technical advantages of hypersonic weapons compared to traditional weapons systems, the United States has continued to invest in hypersonic research.
“What I’m observing today is really this narrative that the U.S. has fallen behind the military technological curve,” Rostker said. “This is prompting Congress, and particularly the Pentagon, to significantly ramp up investment today, more so in what are called theater range hypersonic weapons, and these could operate in contested regions like the Indo-Pacific.” Read more
