Russia and China progress to hypersonic weapon deployments
The Russian Defense Ministry said Russia is targeting initial hypersonic missile and other advanced weapons deployments by 2025 within the framework of the 2018-2025 State Armaments Program.
China has been performing successful mach 7 hypersonic scramjet tests since 2015.
China will test a prototype combined-cycle hypersonic engine later this year that they hope will pave the way for the first demonstration flight of a full-scale propulsion system by 2025. If successful, the engine could be the first of its type in the world to power a hypersonic vehicle or the first stage of a two-stage-to-orbit spaceplane. Combined-cycle systems have long been studied as a potential means to access to space and long-range hypersonic vehicles.
Zhang Yong, a CASTC engineer, claimed that China will master the spaceplane's technologies in the next three to five years, and a full-scale spaceplane would then enter service by 2030.
