A top ranking US Senator on Wednesday said that America no longer dominates the advanced missile technologies segment as countries like India, Russia and China have gained an edge on hypersonic technologies.
“We're in a situation where we have technological improvements. We used to dominate technology. That's no longer the case. Hypersonic, clearly, China and India, Russia have advantages on it,” Senator Jack Reed, Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee said.
He also said that, for the first time in history, the nuclear competition involves not two but three countries, i.e., China, Russia and the US.
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The Russian Defence Ministry last week said that it had used a hypersonic missile in the ongoing Ukrainian conflict for the first time.
It said that the Kinzhal aviation missile system had destroyed a large underground warehouse containing weapons such as aviation ammunition and missiles in the Ivano-Frankivsk region.
The Kh-47M2 Kinzhal is a Russian hypersonic air-to-surface missile. It has been claimed that it has a top speed of Mach 10 and a range of 2000km.
The Kinzhal missile system was unveiled by Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2018.
It was reported in 2021 that China tested a nuclear-capable hypersonic missile in August which circled the entire globe before it hit the target.
India also joined a select group of nations by conducting the maiden test of the high-speed technology demonstrator vehicle (HSTDV). It had done so using an indigenously developed propulsion system.
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India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) along with Russia’s NPO Mashinostroyenia are currently developing BrahMos-II hypersonic cruise missile.
BrahMos-II is expected to have a range of 1000 km and a speed of Mach 8.
India already has a canister launched hypersonic surface-to-surface tactical missile by the DRDO. It has a range of 430-1180km and is capable of carrying a payload of 200-1000kg of conventional/nuclear warhead.
In 2020, the India government approved the induction of Shaurya in the Strategic Forces Command (SFC).
Hypersonic cruise missiles have a minimum speed of Mach 5.
