Hypersonic Missiles Are Game-Changers, and America Doesn’t Have Them

Hypersonics, in the hands of powers such as China or Russia, have the potential to alter the strategic balance that has long undergirded U.S. defense policy. While the U.S. military may still be the most powerful in the world, hypersonic missiles could help an adversary challenge that superiority by evading U.S. early warning systems designed to detect attacks on North America, or striking U.S. naval assets, including aircraft carriers, as well as key bases abroad.

Even the most advanced U.S. warship in the South China Sea could be defenseless against a hypersonic attack.

The piece just gets more worrying from there. Of course, New Space players like Rocket Lab are surging into this void to help close the gap as quickly as possible:

On April 17, 2023, Rocket Lab announced its new HASTE (Hypersonic Accelerator Suborbital Test Electron) launch vehicle, designed to provide high-cadence suborbital flight tests to advance hypersonic technology development. HASTE addresses the U.S. Department of Defense’s (DoD) need for reliable and cost-effective hypersonic testing capabilities, which have previously been limited. As a fully operational launch vehicle, HASTE will allow for rapid and frequent hypersonic and suborbital tests from Rocket Lab’s existing launch site in Virginia, accelerating U.S. and allied progress in the hypersonic domain.

As is usually the case, the US government falls behind, but then marshals resources to surge ahead. Expect that scenario to play out here in the next few years. However, the concern is that China may seek to move on Taiwan before their advantage erodes.