Hypersonic Weapons: Emerging, Disruptive, Political

Author(s): Dominika Kunertova
Editor(s): Brian G. Carlson, Oliver Thränert
Series Editor(s): Andreas Wenger
Book Title: Strategic Trends 2022: Key Developments in Global Affairs
Series: Strategic Trends
Pages: 43-67
Publisher(s): Center for Security Studies (CSS), ETH Zürich
Publication Year: 2022
Publication Place: Zürich

Hypersonic weapons can travel at extreme speeds in the earth’s atmosphere and maneuver along an unpredictable trajectory. They are also overhyped. This chapter explains how three trends – unsubstantiated claims about the effectiveness of hypersonic weapons in development, politicized technological competition, and a widening spectrum of missile threats – obscure our understanding of the hypersonic military capability. The hype about hypersonic weapon programs is more dangerous than hypersonic technology itself.

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