Trump Budget Asking for $120M to Develop Hypersonic Missiles

The United States, having fallen behind China and Russia in hypersonic missile technology, is requesting $120 million in President Donald Trump's 2019 budget to develop a missile which can strike anywhere in the world at speeds of 3,800 mph, according to the Daily Mail.

"China's hypersonic weapons development outpaces ours, we're falling behind," head of U.S. Pacific Command Adm. Harry Harris told the Mail. "We need to continue to pursue that and in a most aggressive way in order to ensure that we have the capabilities to both defend against China's hypersonic weapons and to develop our own offensive hypersonic weapons."

The request in the budget was for funding to develop the technology to build the missiles, which are designed to beat anti-missile defense systems and can be launched from planes, naval ships or submarines and potentially carry nuclear payloads, according to USA Today.

The $120 million is an increase from $75 million in the 2018 budget, according to the Mail. China and Russia are reportedly already working on the technology to beat existing anti-missile defense systems [AMDS].

"The key challenge to U.S. national security and the security of U.S. friends and allies is the emergence of new threats designed to defeat the existing [AMDS]," Missile Defense Agency Director of Operations Gary Pennett told the Pentagon, according to South China Morning Post.

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