CNBC News:
WASHINGTON — Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that Moscow will deploy hypersonic weapons in the “coming months,” a significant step that would enable the Kremlin to surpass the U.S. and China.
A hypersonic weapon can travel at least five times the speed of sound, or about one mile per second. What’s more, the U.S. is currently unable to defend against this breed of threat. Putin, who was speaking at a forum in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, added that Moscow’s hypersonic weapons program was ahead of its competitors.
The latest revelations come less than eight months after Putin touted his nation’s growing hypersonic arsenal as “invincible” during a state of the nation address. The weapons included a nuclear-powered cruise missile, a nuclear-powered underwater drone and a new hypersonic missile.
