1ATLANTIC COUNCIL
August 2025
A vision for US hypersonic weapons
Any future large-scale conflict in the Pacific will be in a highly contested environ-
ment where US capability will be aggressively challenged in the air, on land, at sea,
and in space. The US military must have the ability to rapidly deliver lethal eects
at range in a timescale of relevance. On their own, traditional strike weapons do
not have sucient speed or range to enable eective operation on what will be the
highly contested battlefield of the future. Hypersonic weapons, if fielded in sucient
numbers to defeat critical targets necessary to degrade adversary capabilities, will
enable eective use of traditional weapon systems and allow for future battlefield
dominance. A layered defeat construct must be deployed to defend against ballistic
and hypersonic missiles targeting US assets.
Bottom lines up front
y Near term: Hypersonics are vital to
“kick down the door” of enemy an-
ti-access/area denial systems to en-
able less-exquisite forces to attack in
mass.
y Long term: A high-low mix of hyper-
sonic and traditional weapons will be
key to asserting military advantage.
y What’s at stake: Delaying the fielding
of hypersonic weapons would in-
crease strategic risk; expediting the
fielding of hypersonic strike weapons
would improve lethality and de-
terrence and reduce strategic risk.
How do hypersonic weapons fit into
weapons evolution? For centuries, weapons
have trended toward increasing speed,
range, and accuracy. Hypersonic weapons
build on these trends. Advanced engine
technology and improved materials enable
missiles to travel at hypersonic speeds
(above Mach 5) while maintaining meaning-
ful maneuverability. Because of their speed,
hypersonic weapons, especially hypersonic
cruise missiles, tend to have greater ranges
than similarly sized weapons.
Faster weapons with longer ranges are
more lethal than slower, shorter-range
weapons. The faster speeds mean that
targets have less time to evade or defend
themselves. Hypersonic weapons are more
likely to penetrate enemy defenses opti-
mized for slower munitions, meaning mis-
sile salvos can comprise fewer missiles.
Longer ranges mean that shooters can en-
gage from farther away, potentially outside
detection or engagement range of enemy
defenses, depending on launch platform
capabilities.
In the next decade, exquisite hypersonic
weapons will be keys to “open the door”
for forces equipped with more traditional
weapons. This paradigm is like the United
States’ 1991 employment of the new F-117
stealth fighters equipped with precision
bombs to dramatically degrade Iraqi air de-
fense command and control. This innovation
made it possible for traditional airpower to
attack other targets. In a similar vein, highly
capable platforms like the B-21 stealth bom-
bers or Virginia-class fast-attack submarines
Hypersonic
weapons—
especially if they
achieve precision
accuracy—may
trigger shock
waves in the
strategic balance.
—Andrew F.
Krepinevich Jr.,
The Origins of Victory
