China and Russia’s push to develop hypersonic weapons raises fears of arms race with US
- China became the first country to announce the deployment of the missiles, but Russia recently announced it had developed a much more advanced version the Avangard
- Defence analysts say the weapons are not a game changer for now but could give Moscow extra leverage in negotiations with the US
Recent breakthroughs in the development of hypersonic weapons have heightened fears about a new arms race between China, Russia and the US, with some defence observers calling for new international arms control agreements.
The emergence of hypersonic weapons has raised concerns about the “invincible” arms, which cannot be intercepted by any existing defence systems, being used to enhance nuclear powers’ capabilities.
A hypersonic weapon is usually defined as one that reaches speeds of at least Mach 5, five times the speed of sound.
Last year China became the first country in the world to publicly announce the deployment of hypersonic weapons when its DF-17 missile featured in the National Day military parade on October 1.
But in late December Russia announced the formal deployment of its Avangard missile.
“The deployment of Avangard indicated that Russia is ahead of both China and the US, because the DF-17 hypersonic missile of the People’s Liberation Army is a low-tech one, which can travel at a speed of Mach 6,” a military insider told the South China Morning Post.
Russian media claimed that the Avangard hypersonic glide vehicle can fly at speeds of Mach 20.