Inside Defense:
A top U.S. military officer said there is an “extremely high” risk that hypersonic strike weapon technology being developed in China and Russia could proliferate to North Korea and Iran, a determination that is fueling efforts by the Defense Department to focus development on a new capability to defeat ultra-fast, maneuvering missiles.
Missile Defense Agency Director Lt. Gen. Samuel Greaves told the Senate Appropriations defense subcommittee April 11 that he views the proliferation of a notional new-class of hypersonic weapons — which China, Russia and the United States are all racing to develop but which none has yet figured out how to make operational — to be inevitable.
“I assess that risk as extremely high,” Greaves said when asked about his views about the risk of hypersonic technology spreading from China and Russia to North Korea and Iran. “I don’t see what will prevent it from happening.”
