Following the news that China’s recent hypersonic missile likely deployed countermeasures – projectiles used to help the missile defend itself;

William Davies, Associate Analyst at GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company, offers his view:

“China’s unexpected ability to develop a hypersonic missile with inbuilt countermeasures creates a fresh challenge to the US’ technological superiority. While it is unclear why China has been experimenting with this technology, the Pentagon speculates that this could defeat existing US missile defense systems.

“China’s hypersonic missile was already a significant concern to the US due to its potential to pass the South Pole and evade the US’ current missile defense system, which is primarily pointed towards the Northern regions. This development raises concerns that even advanced US missile defense systems may struggle against Chinese hypersonic advances.

“Hypersonics have the potential to change the strategic balance, says GlobalData. The speed and trajectory of these missiles means that adversaries will have little warning when they are launched. Further, their potential to evade existing missile defenses will spur increased Pentagon funding for these systems.”

*Information taken from GlobalData’s report: Hypersonic Technologies in Aerospace and Defense – Thematic Research