China's hypersonic missile program is a great threat to US national security. (Internet Photo)
US congress has approved the Pentagon's advance hypersonic guided missile project and expressed its concerns over China's development of long-range ultra-high speed weapons, reports state-run China News Service.
The House of Representative passed a US$70.7 million project that allows US army to develop a hypersonic guided missile in the fiscal year of 2015. The United States Senate also approved the same budget for the project while the US Department of Defense applied for a US$65.2 million budget for developing hypersonic weapons.
A House report said the country has not invested in hypersonic weapons sufficiently, compared to China and Russia which have been increasing their ultra high speed weaponries.
US officials revealed that China tested an aircraft on Jan. 9 that could fly and move at a speed ten times higher than the speed of sound. A report of the house on national defense budget said the test was successful and Russia has been developing a similar but less advanced weapon.
Frank Kendall, US under secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics, told the congress in January that existing guided missile system are not capable of engaging ultra high speed weapons. China's ultra high speed aircraft is propelled through a missile launcher and can glide and move at a speed more than Mach 10. The house has been focused on US army's project of a hypersonic guided missile, which could reach speeds of more than Mach 5 an hour. It flew over 2,500 miles in 30 minutes during the first test in 2011. If the second missile test to be held this year is successful, the US defense ministry will consider deploying the missile on a submarine to carry out the third test.
