The Hypersonic Missile Conundrum

Hypersonic missiles operating at or more than five times the speed of sound pose a major security threat. Their high operating speeds, low flight altitudes and maneuverability severely compress the detection time and response decision. China, Russia and US have deployed some of these weapon systems or are in the process of deploying them. The technology is under development in India, Japan and France. The technology has both civilian and military applications.