US conducts 'successful' test of hypersonic missile technology

 
The test, conducted Wednesday at a NASA facility in Wallops, Virginia, is a "vital step in the development of a Navy-designed common hypersonic missile," the navy said in a statement.
 
"This test demonstrated advanced hypersonic technologies, capabilities, and prototype systems in a realistic operating environment," it said. 
Hypersonic missiles, like traditional ballistic missiles, can fly more than five times the speed of sound (Mach 5).
 
But they are more maneuverable than their ballistic counterparts and can trace a low trajectory in the atmosphere, making them harder to defend against.
 
Ambassador Robert Wood, US permanent representative to the Conference on Disarmament, expressed concern earlier this week following reports that China had conducted a test in August of a hypersonic missile with nuclear capacity.
 
According to the Financial Times, China launched a hypersonic missile that completed a circuit of the planet before landing, missing its target.
 
"We are very concerned by what China has been doing on the hypersonic front," said Wood, who next week steps down from his post in Geneva after seven years.
 
China insisted that the test was a routine one for a spacecraft rather than a missile.
 
Wood said Russia also had hypersonic technology and while the United States had held back from developing a military capacity in this field, it now had no choice but to respond in kind.
 
 AFP/GY