In 4 Words: America Is Running Behind . As of 2025, the United States has several major hypersonic weapons programs underway and has invested several billion dollars into each of these.

The U.S., Russia and China are in the middle of a hypersonic arms race — and right now, the U.S. is losing. But private companies are stepping up to develop hypersonic tech that shifts the edge ...

Hypersonic missiles are fast, and the 3M22 Zircon's advertised speed makes it the planet's fastest hypersonic cruise missile — for now.It's powered by a ramjet engine, also called a scramjet ...

In March 2024, Talon-A1 launched for its first powered test flight, reaching hypersonic speeds that didn’t quite make it to Mach 5.Unlike Talon-A1, Stratolaunch’s latest prototype, Talon-A2 is ...

Venus Aerospace just took one giant leap toward hypersonic travel. The Houston-based startup successfully completed the first U.S. flight test of an exotic new type of engine, capable of enabling ...

While hypersonic missiles certainly increase the risk that U.S. Navy ships would face in a war against China, no true expert would argue “100% the carrier is dead,” Shugart said.

Catching up. So why is hypersonic flight testing important? The Pentagon wants to close what it views as a technological gap with China, which US officials acknowledge has become the world's ...