The Pentagon reveals details of its hypersonic missile 1:44
(CNN) - Defense officials have revealed to CNN details about the hypersonic missile that President Donald Trump has long touted as a new "super duper" military weapon, part of a major effort to catch up with Russian hypersonic weapons programs. and Chinese.
Pentagon agents first recognized some of the capabilities of the hypersonic missile, which Trump described as traveling 17 times the speed of sound.
A senior defense official told CNN that Trump took a special interest in the missile, revealing that Trump's fastest "17 times" figure stems from a March "hypersonic glide body" test over the Pacific, a Proof that the Pentagon officially described as "successful" while revealing little additional information.
"What he really meant was the recent flight test we conducted in March, in which we flew 17 times the speed of sound," said the senior defense official.
But the U.S. effort still lags behind the already deployed weapons systems of Moscow and Beijing, with an unlikely American missile by 2023.
Hypersonic missiles are traditionally defined as missiles that travel at least five times the speed of sound, which is more than 2,361 kilometers per hour, and are considered highly maneuverable and capable of operating at different altitudes.
Trump touted the missile the Pentagon develops on at least three separate occasions, referring to it as a "super duper" missile capable of traveling 17 times faster than anything currently in the United States' missile arsenal.
"We have a ... I call it the 'super-duper missile.'" And I listened the other night, 17 times faster than what they have now, "Trump said in May.
Much more difficult to defend yourself
Given their tremendous speed and maneuverability in the atmosphere, hypersonic missiles are considered particularly difficult to defend with the use of conventional anti-missile defense systems, which are designed to counter and intercept traditional ballistic missile threats, the trajectory of which is much more predictable than their hypersonic counterparts.
"Trying to defend against a hypersonic vehicle, that uncertainty in the trajectory becomes very difficult to handle and defending itself becomes very difficult because a very high speed has been combined with the uncertainty in the flight trajectory," a senior told CNN. United States defense official.
The official said Trump "receives information" on the details of the hypersonic weapons program, and assured that "he is aware of and supports the progress we are making."
"There is support and interest at the presidential level in what we are doing," said the official.
However, the U.S. military is still several years away from deploying a hypersonic weapon, with a target date of at least 2023, while adversaries from the United States, Russia, and China claim they have already deployed such weapons.
Russia said it placed its nuclear-capable hypersonic missile known as "the Avangard" in "combat service" late last year.
The Russian army also tested an air-launched version of a hypersonic missile known as Kinzhal and said it could be ready this year.
Chinese missile development
And China recently displayed its hypersonic weapon, the DF-17, during a recent military parade.
The United States has recognized that it needs to catch up with Moscow and Beijing, and the Pentagon has requested billions for the development of the weapon.
"I have full confidence that we will catch up, and we are investing in hypersonic," Deputy Secretary of Defense for Strategy, Plans and Capabilities Vic Mercado told CNN, saying that Russian and Chinese capabilities were an important planning factor for the Pentagon. .
The senior official told CNN that the reason the United States lagged behind China and Russia in the hypersonic arms race is because the United States made a conscious decision to avoid adapting hypersonic technology to weapons until relatively recently. In time, a change fueled by the embrace of arms by Moscow and Beijing.
For four or five decades, “The United States has been a world leader in hypersonic technology. But we have always avoided making the decision to make a transition from that technology to war applications, "explained the senior defense official.
Tremendous reach
The impulse glide system, which was tested in March, places a maneuverable glide vehicle on top of a ballistic missile, giving the missile much greater maneuverability at hypersonic speed.
The weapon is considered to have a tremendous range, 1,609 km or more, but is more expensive and larger than the cruise missile variant.
The other type of hypersonic missile the United States is working on is a hypersonic cruise missile and is much more like a traditional cruise missile like the Tomahawk missile, a weapon long used by the military to attack enemy targets.
Hypersonic missiles would travel up to ten times faster than the Tomahawk missile currently in the military arsenal.
The senior defense official said a test of the cruise missile would be conducted later this year.
The official indicated that both weapons could work in concert, as longer-range glide missiles eliminate an enemy's air defense systems, allowing American warplanes armed with hypersonic cruise missiles to fly closer and attack a larger number of enemy targets.
According to American officials, a big difference between planned American weapons and Chinese and Russian variants is that American missiles are not designed to be nuclear.
hypersonic missile
