The Pentagon announced on Friday that the giant American defense groups Raytheon, Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman will develop missiles to help the United States better defend itself against Ultrasound attacks.

These hypersonic missiles can fly at least 5 times faster than the speed of sound, i.e. Mach 5, and are more maneuverable than ballistic missiles and can operate at a lower altitude, making them more difficult to detect.

The Pentagon said the three contracts, totaling more than $60 million, were signed to develop interceptor missiles.

The United States successfully tested hypersonic missile technology – used by Russia and China – in late September.

The US Department of Defense said at the time that it had successfully tested a missile capable of flying at a speed exceeding the speed of sound 5 times, in the first successful test of this class of missiles since 2013.

experiments and tests

In a statement, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency indicated that the free-flight test of the “Hypersonic” hypersonic missile was carried out successfully.

This class of missiles flies in the upper layer of the atmosphere at speeds exceeding the speed of sound 5 times, or about 6,200 kilometers per hour.

“The missile, built by Raytheon Technologies, was launched from an aircraft seconds before turning on its Northrop Grumman Scramjet engine,” the project agency added.

The Pentagon confirmed about a month ago that China had tested a hypersonic missile with a nuclear charge that was difficult to counter, explaining that Beijing was developing this arsenal much faster than expected.

China has developed this technology in an offensive manner, considering it essential to defend itself against US advances in “hyperacoustic” and other technology, according to a recent report issued by the US Congressional Research Office.

This (Chinese) experiment took place at a time of rising tension between the United States and China, while Beijing intensified its military activities near Taiwan – the self-governing, democratic island ally of Washington – which China considers one of its territories and vows to reunite it with the mainland.

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