Is a new hypersonic arms race underway?

President Vladimir Putin says Russia will soon be first to deploy ‘invincible’ hypersonic missiles.

He says the Avangard weapon guarantees Russian security for decades to come.

Supersonic is slow compared with hypersonic.

Flying at many times the speed of sound, they’re are designed to evade missile shield systems to attack anywhere in the world.

Wednesday’s test-firing hasn’t been independently verified.

But with the United States, China – and possibly others – developing similar technology, how big a threat are the new, high speed weapons?

Presenter: Mohammed Jamjoom

Guests:

Tarif Rauf – Nuclear arms control specialist

Pavel Felgenhauer – Russian defence analyst

Richard Weitz – director, Center for Political-Military Analysis, Hudson Institute