News Analysis The hypersonic missile is the holy grail of the kinetic-kill weapons system. The appeal of such a powerful, supposedly unstoppable weapon is obvious and not lost on the West’s adversaries. It is China, however, that is driving most of the recent concerns over a hypersonics arms race. Traveling at a speed of anywhere from 5 to 15 times the speed of sound (that is, around 3,700 to 11,000 miles an hour) and able to maneuver while doing so, the hypersonic cruise missile is believed unstoppable and impossible to defend against. Reportedly, a hypersonic weapon could be 10 to 20 times harder to detect than an incoming ballistic missile. Quite a few countries are working on a hypersonic weapon. Russia has reportedly accelerated its program to develop the Avangard hypersonic glide vehicle (HGV), which would be launched by an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). According to reports, Moscow wants to …