Congress Pushes Legislation For Defense Against Hypersonic Missiles

Following recent tests by both Russia and China of hypersonic missiles, Congress is trying to pass legislation that would require the Pentagon's Missile Defense Agency to counter the threat, The Washington Free Bacon reports.

The issue is scheduled to be discussed today by the House as part of the debate over the defense authorization bill. The Missile Defense Agency has said the U.S. currently does not have programs it is working on to neutralize these types of weapons.

Hypersonic missiles travel at least five times the speed of sound and are considered a game-changing weapon.

The extreme speed of such missiles, such as the Russian Zicron at 4,600 miles an hour, means that even if ships were to detect an incoming one a hundred miles away, it would only have only one minute to destroy it, Popular Mechanics explains.

The Fiscal Times points out that a study released earlier this year by the Air Force Association's Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies stresses that such a revolutionary weapon must be countered and the United States "must redouble its efforts to retain its lead in hypersonics"

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