Hypersonics: DoD Wants “Hundreds of Weapons” ASAP

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Notional flight paths of hypersonic boost-glide missiles, ballistic missiles, and cruise missiles (CSBA graphic).
Notional flight paths of hypersonic boost-glide missiles, ballistic missiles, and cruise missiles (CSBA graphic).

May 28, 2020 | Originally published by Breaking Defense on April 24, 2020

WASHINGTON — The Pentagon has created a “war room” to ramp up production of hypersonic weapons from a handful of prototypes over the last decade to “hundreds of weapons” in the near future, a senior official said Wednesday. Those weapons will range from huge rocket-powered boost-glide missiles, fired from Army trucks and Navy submarines at more than Mach 10, to more compact and affordable air-breathing cruise missiles, fired from aircraft at a relatively modest Mach 5-plus.