The Washington Examiner:

A C-HGB rocket on Thursday pierced the skies over Kauai, Hawaii. It created explosive smoke flumes similar to those of a space shuttle launch because the joint Navy- and Army-developed hypersonic glide body does reach space.

To reach speeds of Mach 20, or 20 times the speed of sound, the glide body that will carry the nation’s fastest land-based missile passes between the upper atmosphere and space.

“There is no missile defense system from sensor to interceptor in the world, including the United States, that has been developed and is capable of defeating hypersonic glide vehicles (HGVs) like the C-HGB,” wrote Riki Ellison, the head of the Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance, the day after the launch.

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