North Korea began the New Year with increasingly capable missile tests, including at least one it claims was a hypersonic missile, amid an intensifying race for the next generation of long-range weapons that are harder to detect and intercept.
another missile that flew at relatively low altitudes at up to 10 times the speed of sound .
Despite their name, analysts say the main feature of hypersonic weapons is not speed - which can sometimes be matched or exceeded by traditional ballistic missile warheads - but their manoeuvrability. Combining a glide vehicle with a missile that can launch it partially into orbit - a so-called fractional orbital bombardment system - could strip adversaries of reaction time and traditional defences mechanisms.
In July, Russia successfully tested a Tsirkon hypersonic cruise missile, which President Vladimir Putin touted as part of a new generation of missile systems. Moscow also tested the weapon from a submarine for the first time. L8N2R017O
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