Explainer: What Are Hypersonic Weapons and Why Do They Matter?

The U.S. Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency’s Falcon Hypersonic Test Vehicle emerges from its rocket nose cone and prepares to re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere, in this illustration. Courtesy of DARPA

News Analysis

Talk of a new arms race between the United States and China has rapidly increased since a recent report by the Financial Times asserted that China had tested a nuclear-capable hypersonic weapon.