U.S. Years Behind China On Hypersonic Weapons, Says Raytheon CEO

The head of defense contractor Raytheon has said the US is years behind China in its pursuit of hypersonic weapons which can bob and weave through the atmosphere at more than five times the speed of sound, Bloomberg News reported.

Photo Insert: Raytheon's GhostEye is a radar designed to defeat advanced and next-generation threats, including hypersonic weapons, or those that fly faster than a mile a second.

Hypersonic capability is “the most destabilizing threat to the homeland. The time to react is very, very short,” said Gregory Hayes, CEO of Raytheon Technologies, which is developing a hypersonic cruise missile with the US military.

While the Pentagon has a number of hypersonic weapons programs in development and the US understands the technology, China has “actually fielded hypersonic weapons,” he said in a Bloomberg TV interview on Tuesday. “We are at least several years behind.”

The emerging, ultra-fast weapon systems have sparked concerns because of their potential to destabilize relations between the US and China, and Russia. They may also become a front in the mounting competition between Beijing and Washington as the world’s two largest economies clash over trade, technology, and humanitarian issues.

Hayes’ comments followed reports that China conducted two hypersonic weapons tests over the summer, including one of a so-called hypersonic glide vehicle.

Launched from a missile or rocket, the craft separates and zips toward a target while maneuvering through the atmosphere. Such weapons can reach speeds of 22,000 miles per hour, he said.

“We have to have automated systems to defend the homeland, and we are focused on that.”In September, Raytheon’s missiles and defense unit successfully test-fired a hypersonic cruise missile that can travel at speeds greater than Mach 5, as part of a development contract for the US air force and the Defence Department’s advanced technology development agency.

“We will have weapons to challenge the adversaries but most importantly I think our focus is how do we develop counter-hypersonics,” Hayes said. “That’s where the challenge will be.”

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