U.S. Defence Secretary Mark Esper said his country will be stationing the first hypersonic weapon by 2023. “Our opponents are firing long-range missiles to prevent our freedom of manoeuvre. We are increasing our hypersonic investments over the next five years,” Esper said.

In March, the Army and Navy reached an important milestone by jointly launching a successful test of a hypersonics glide body, he noted. The United States wants to integrate new technology into forces by 2023.

In his speech, Esper stressed that with the technology developing around the world, the way the United States is thinking, preparing and planning about war has changed.

The Pentagon's budget for hypersonic has increased 10-fold since 2016. The budget for hypersonic systems in fiscal year 2020 is worth about US$3.5 billion.