The Nation:

India has recently test-fired a Hypersonic Technology Demonstrator Vehicle (HSTDV), a new class of technological feat, which will pave the way for missiles production, that will travel at six times the speed of sound. Hypersonic missiles could travel at high speed like ballistic missiles, and can maneuver like cruise missiles.

For various reasons, such missiles have long been included in the wish-list of Russian, Chinese, and American military establishments. Now India is following the same path, because hypersonic missiles can be launched by a country with a purpose to hit rival states within minutes. In the most advanced Western military powers and elsewhere, no current defenses can intercept hypersonic missiles, which move too swiftly and maneuver on an unpredictable route. Indian extravagant expenses on high-speed missile technology will create strategic instability and initiate a swift arms race, especially in space and missile domains, which will ultimately generate a whole new security challenge in the South Asian context…

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