https://www.rt.com/usa/435431-us-russia-china-friends-weapons/ Russia & China ‘can’t be our friends as they develop hypersonic weapons’ – US general
Published time: 8 Aug, 2018 13:29 Edited time: 9 Aug, 2018 08:42 Get short URL <https://on.rt.com/9bzb> [image: Russia & China ‘can’t be our friends as they develop hypersonic weapons’ – US general]FILE PHOTO © Maxim Shemetov / Reuters Russia and China are not eligible for friendship with the United States because the two nations are developing hypersonic weapons that the US has no defense against, a top American general has declared. *“You can’t call them [Russia and China] our friends if they’re building weapons that can destroy the United States of America, and, therefore, we have to develop the capability to respond,”* Air Force General John Hyten, commander of US Strategic Command, said at the Space and Missile Defense Symposium in Huntsville, Alabama. Read more [image: Russian President Vladimir Putin delivers his annual Presidential Address to the Federal Assembly at the Manezh Central Exhibition Hall © Grigoriy Sisoev] <https://www.rt.com/news/420206-russia-strategic-weapons-putin/> ‘Listen to us now’: Putin unveils new Russian nuclear arsenal <https://www.rt.com/news/420206-russia-strategic-weapons-putin/> Hyten went on to reassure his audience that the Pentagon has close to a dozen programs aimed at developing and defending against hypersonic weapons. He also expressed regret that the US hadn’t started working on such weapon systems *“five years ago or ten years ago, because then we wouldn’t be worried.”* The general’s comments coincided with Beijing’s claim that it had successfully tested its first hypersonic aircraft. A hypersonic weapon or aircraft travels at Mach 5 or higher, five times faster than the speed of sound. Russian President Vladimir Putin revealed that Russia has developed a number of advanced weapons systems, including hypersonic missiles, during his state of the nation address in May. Putin showcased two variants of hypersonic weapons systems already in development: An air-launched projectile called Kinzhal (*“dagger”* in Russian) that travels at a speed of Mach 10 and has a range of 2,000km (1,240 miles), and a hypersonic glider warhead deployed from space which can fly in the atmosphere at speeds of over Mach 20. In July, the Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) said that a mole had leaked secret files on Russia’s newest hypersonic weapons to Western intelligence.
