U.S. defense industry giants Raytheon, Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman will develop missiles to help the United States better defend itself against hypersonic attacks, the Pentagon said on Friday.
The three contracts, with a combined value of more than $ 60 million, were made for the development of interceptor missiles, the Pentagon said.
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Hypersonic missiles, like traditional missiles, can fly at least five times faster than the speed of sound, or at Mach 5. But they are more maneuverable than ballistic missiles and can operate at low altitude which makes them more difficult to detect. .
The United States successfully tested hypersonic missile technology, already used by Russia or China, in October.
The Pentagon recently confirmed that China tested a difficult-to-counter nuclear-charged hypersonic missile in August and that Beijing was developing this arsenal much faster than expected.
