It can be launched farther than 10,000 football fields, travel as fast as 7,680 miles per hour and could “easily” penetrate U.S. defenses, according to Forbes.
A new hypersonic ballistic missile that could glide more than 6,000 miles before hitting its target is being developed in Russia, which may cause an issue for nuclear storage areas in the world due to the missile’s inconspicuousness, according to Sputnik.
“In theory, gliders can either ‘skip’ along the atmosphere like a stone skimming the surface of a pond, or they can glide on a smooth ‘equilibrium’ trajectory,” James Acton, co-director of the nuclear policy at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace told Forbes.
Sputnik said that this year Russia successfully tested one of their missiles, Yu-74, along with hypersonic cruise missiles, which would be similar to the Yu-74. Both of the missiles would go through the U.S. (THAAD) shield, which shoots down these types of missiles.
Mark Schneider, a former Pentagon strategic forces policymaker, told Sputnik if the reports were true, then that would be a “major threat development.”
“Russia has an extensive program underway on hypersonic vehicles. This year the Russian state media is reporting that a hypersonic cruise missile is being developed for Russian naval vessels including the ‘5th generation’ Husky missile submarine that is now under development,” Schneider told Sputnik.