US to Deploy its First Hypersonic Weapon by 2023: Esper

The United States plans to deploy its first hypersonic missile system with US forces by 2023, defence secretary, Mark Esper has said.

"As our competitors develop long-range fires to inhibit our freedom of maneuver, we're increasing our investments in hypersonics over the next five years, so we can ramp up testing and develop these capabilities to the warfighter as quickly as possible," he said.

In March, the Army and Navy reached an important milestone by jointly launching a successful test of a hypersonics glide body, he noted. The plan is to integrate this technology into an Army battery by 2023.

His remarks were given during the Association of the United States Army's annual meeting on October 15. "Today, emerging technologies are expanding the geometry of the battlefield and transforming how we think about, prepare and plan for war," he said.

Speaking at the same conference on October 13, US Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy said “U.S. hypersonic missiles can strike within six inches of a target after traveling thousands of miles at Mach 5 or faster,” referring to a Mar. 19 test of the missile, which was fired from the Pacific Missile Range Facility in Kauai, Hawaii.

Budget boost for hypersonic weapons:

The Pentagon’s hypersonics budget since 2016 has gone up by a factor of 10. The fiscal 2020, it's about $3.5 billion, and it's expected to grow in future years.

The US is working on a hypersonic glide body weapon as well as an anti-ship or surface to surface missile.

The Defense Department is developing hypersonic strike systems because of their unique warfighting aspects of range, speed, maneuverability, survivability and lethality, said Mike E. White, assistant director of hypersonics, Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Research and Engineering on October 1 during a conference on Hypersonics.