The efforts of China, Russia and the US to develop hypersonic missiles1.
These are maneuverable missiles that travel at some 4,600 miles per hour or about five times the speed of conventional missiles.
They can utterly overwhelm existing missile defense systems. The efforts to develop them are at the cusp of succeeding. The strategic implications are huge and destabilising—since they can make a first strike a winning strategy rather than a suicidal one.
RAND has published on this2, and it has been reported by some specialist publications, but the mainstream press seems to have ignored their report.
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Introduction to this Under-reported series.
Summary guide to all under-reported articles in this series.
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