What is hypersonic missile? Which country is leading in hypersonic missile?

Hypersonic weapons are missiles and projectiles which travel at between 5 and 25 times the speed of sound about 1 to 5 miles per second.

What is a hypersonic missile?

Hypersonic weapons fly at speeds of at least Mach 5 and are highly maneuverable and able to change course during a flight.

They are different from ballistic missiles, which can also travel at hypersonic speeds (of at least Mach 5) but have set trajectories and limited maneuverability.

In the past five years, Russia, China, and others have accelerated their development of hypersonic missiles to threaten U.S. forces in the homeland and abroad.

The current Ballistic Missile Defense System, largely equipped to contend with legacy ballistic missile threats, must be adapted to this challenge.

Which country is leading in hypersonic missiles?

Russia is the global leader in hypersonic missiles and, by the time other countries catch up, is likely to have developed technology to counteract these new weapons, President Vladimir Putin said.