Hypersonic missiles might not be valuable for the United States in the future.
This was revealed by the latest report of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO).
For the past years, hypersonic missiles have served the U.S. government in defending the country.
However, experts are now doubting the value of these defense missiles because of their tactical uses and unsolved technological challenges.
Hypersonic Missiles No Longer Worth It?
According to the National Defense's latest report, hypersonic missiles are used against anti-access and area-denial systems used by Russia, China, and other adversaries.
They could be launched outside the range of the mentioned systems. Since they have hypersonic speeds, they can reach targets in just a few minutes.
However, CBO revealed one issue with these super-fast missiles. Traveling faster than Mach 5 leads to one fundamental technological challenge, which is heat management.
Aside from this major issue, the new CBO report also revealed that scenarios, where hypersonic missiles are more useful than ballistic missiles, are limited.
This means that ballistic missiles are almost as effective as hypersonic missiles.
When it comes to costs, CBO claimed that hypersonic missiles are around one-third more expensive than ballistic missiles.
US Still Investing in Hypersonic Missiles
As of press time, the U.S. government is still investing in the development of hypersonic weapons.
One of these is the new scramjet-powered HAWC (Hypersonic Airbreathing Weapon Concept) missile.
Popular Mechanics reported that the U.S. Air Force successfully completed the final test for the new HAWC.
The data acquired from the final test is expected to influence the U.S. government's future hypersonic missile efforts.
You can click here to learn what happened during the experiment.
Other stories we previously wrote about defense:
Recently, sources claimed that a new high-energy laser beam, which can enhance drones' flight capabilities, is being developed by China.
We also reported that Israel launched its new Point Blank drone, which can be retrieved after destroying its target.
For more news updates about missiles and other defense techs, keep your tabs open here at TechTimes.
