Bloomberg: The CEO of the U.S. defense company said that U.S. hypersonic weapons are years behind China

Bloomberg reported on Oct. 27 that the CEO of the U.S. defense company said the U.S. was years behind China in hypersonic weapons.

Raytheon's chief executive said On Oct. 26, the U.S. government is years behind China in its pursuit of so-called hypersonic weapons that can swing through the atmosphere at more than five times the speed of sound.

Raytheon CEO Gregory Hayes said in an interview with Bloomberg Television's David Westing Power Balance program that while the Pentagon has some hypersonic weapons programs under development and, the United States understands the technology, China "has actually invested in hypersonic weapons."

"We're at least a few years behind," he said.

Emerging hypervelocity weapon systems have attracted attention because they have the potential to destabilize relations between the United States, China, and Russia. As the world's two largest economies clash over trade, technology and humanitarian issues, they could also become a front in the growing competition between Beijing and Washington.

Raytheon is working with the U.S. military to develop a hypersonic cruise missile. Mr Hayes said hypersonic capabilities are the most destabilizing threat to the United States. Because, it makes people react very, very short.

Vehicles launched from missiles or rockets detach and glide toward targets as they maneuver through the atmosphere, a weapon that Hayes said could reach speeds of up to 35,406 kilometers per hour. "We have to have automated systems to defend us, and we're focused on that," he said in an interview.

Raytheon's Missile and Defense Division successfully test-fired a hypersonic cruise missile that can exceed Mach 5 in September as part of a development contract with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the advanced technology development agency of the U.S. Air Force and the Department of Defense.

"We're going to have weapons that challenge our opponents, but most importantly, I think our focus is on how to develop weapons against hypersonic speeds, and that's going to be the challenge," Mr Hayes said. "