CNBC: Defense spending act makes hypersonic a top priority, calling for billions in investment
* Hypersonic air travel, for both military and commercial use, could be here within the decade.
* China, Russia and now North Korea all claim to have developed and successfully tested hypersonic missiles.
Hypersonic air travel, for both military and commercial use, could be here within the decade.
The $770 billion National Defense Authorization Act signed into law Tuesday calls for investing billions into hypersonic research and development, making them a top priority for Washington. The next step is congressional approval to allocate the money for the technology to the Pentagon.
“If you are traveling at hypersonic speeds, you’re, you’re going more than a mile per second,” said Mark Lewis, executive director of the National Defense Industrial Association’s Emerging Technologies Institute. “That’s important for military applications. It could have commercial applications. It could also open up new, new ways of reaching space.”
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WNU Editor: It looks like a new arms race is underway .... Mach 5 Missiles Spur New Arms Race as U.S. Seeks to Match China (Bloomberg).