US Scrambles to Develop Hypersonic Missiles to Catch Up With Russia, China
Despite the billions of dollars in research and development funding dispensed by Congress in annual defense budgets, the US hypersonic missile programs to date boast a poor track record, marred by test failures and delays.
Desperate to catch up with Russia and China, the US is racing to develop hypersonic weapons for its Navy.
Towards that end, the US Navy is advancing its Hypersonic Air-Launched Offensive Anti-Surface Warfare (HALO) program. If all goes according to plan, it would equip surface and subsurface fleets with hypersonic anti-ship cruise missiles, as reported by The War Zone.
Contracts have reportedly already been awarded to defense contractors Raytheon and Lockheed Martin for competing missile designs said to be powered by ramjet or scramjet engines. A flight demonstration has been inked in for fiscal year 2027, with air-launched HALO missiles to be fielded sometime by 2029. From vessel-launched, these will potentially be expanded to surface- and subsurface-launched configurations