Slowing the Hypersonic Arms Race

The Union of Concerned Scientists argues that hypersonic weapons are an evolutionary rather than revolutionary technology, providing limited tactical or strategic advantages over existing ballistic missiles. The report claims that claims of superior speed, stealth, and evasiveness are not backed by technical evidence, and that the current arms race between the US, Russia, and China is driven by hype rather than military necessity. It recommends that the US government subject these programs to strict evidence-based scrutiny to avoid wasteful spending and global security risks.

• Technical analysis indicates that hypersonic weapons do not provide significant advantages over existing missiles in terms of speed, maneuverability, accuracy, stealth, or the ability to evade missile defenses.
• Contrary to claims that they compress delivery times, hypersonic missiles actually take longer to reach their targets than comparable ballistic missiles for both intercontinental and theater-scale use due to atmospheric drag.
• While hypersonic weapons are more maneuverable than ballistic missiles, this capability is limited by physics and results in a trade-off that reduces the missile's speed and maximum flight range.
• Hypersonic weapons are vulnerable to detection by existing space-based infrared sensors because they reach temperatures of thousands of degrees Celsius during atmospheric flight, emitting intense infrared light.
• Hypersonic weapons offer no new capabilities for evading terminal phase defenses and may be more vulnerable to interception than ballistic missiles because they approach targets more slowly.
• The development of hypersonic weapons in Russia and China is largely a response to the United States' own pursuit of these weapons and the development of US missile defenses.
• The US government has spent $3.2 billion in a recent annual defense budget on at least five distinct hypersonic development programs without articulating a clear tactical or strategic role for these weapons.

APA

Union of Concerned Scientists (2021). Slowing the Hypersonic Arms Race. https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/2021-04/slowing-the-hypersonic-arms-race.pdf

Chicago

Union of Concerned Scientists. Slowing the Hypersonic Arms Race. 2021. https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/2021-04/slowing-the-hypersonic-arms-race.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Union of Concerned Scientists |title=Slowing the Hypersonic Arms Race |date=May 2021 |url=https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/2021-04/slowing-the-hypersonic-arms-race.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{unionofconcernedscientists2021slowing, author = {{Union of Concerned Scientists}}, title = {{Slowing the Hypersonic Arms Race}}, institution = {Union of Concerned Scientists}, year = {2021}, month = may, url = {https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/2021-04/slowing-the-hypersonic-arms-race.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }