The proliferation of hypersonic missiles capable of traveling faster than 3,100 miles per hour would "increase the chances of strategic war," according to a new report by the Rand Corporation.
The United States, Russia, and China are developing such missiles, and in July, Australia and the United States conducted a secretive hypersonic missile test, which involved a Mach-busting missile flying eight times the speed of sound, according to FlightGlobal.
The U.S. military's Prompt Global Strike initiative aims to develop a hypersonic, precision-guided conventional weapon that can strike anywhere in the world within one hour, but Rand is urging the three countries to come to an agreement since the speed of the weapon would "give nations an incentive to become trigger happy," said Richard Speier, the lead author of the report.
"There is probably less than a decade available to substantially hinder the proliferation process. To this end, this report makes specific recommendations for actions by the United States, Russia, and China, as well as by the broader international community," the 2015-2017 report read.
Hypersonic missiles refer to two weapons: hypersonic glide vehicles and hypersonic cruise missiles. HGV's are launched by rockets into near space and get to their targets by gliding along the upper atmosphere. HCM's are faster versions of existing cruise missiles, and are powered by rockets or advanced jet engines.
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