US, UK Reportedly Working on Defense Against Russian, Chinese Hypersonic Missiles

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - American and British arms companies have been working on the creation of defense systems against Russian and Chinese hypersonic missiles, though the project is only "in its infancy" in the United States, The Telegraph reported on Sunday.

In particular, British company Cohort has been developing technologies to destroy weapons moving five times faster than the speed of sound, Andy Tomis, the head of the firm, told the media outlet.

"Being able to develop convincing countermeasures against them is a really important step forward. It's a real challenge. There's no doubt about that," Tomis was quoted as saying by the newspaper.

Meanwhile, US weapons producer Raytheon Missiles and Defense intends to give priority to tracking missiles from space using satellites, Wes Kremer, the president of the company, told The Telegraph. According to Kremer, the weak point of any missile is its heat dissipation system, which is relatively easy to damage.

However, defense against hypersonic weapons is only "in its infancy" in the US, with only one project being under development, Raytheon chief was quoted as saying by the media outlet.

On Monday, the US military conducted a successful free flight of the hypersonic air-breathing weapon able to fly at more than five times the speed of sound. The test launch took place amid growing concerns in Washington that Moscow and Beijing are ahead of the US in the development of hypersonic missiles.