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The announcement was made during a hearing on the US Senate Armed Services Committee, where Rood answered questions about how the US was fighting hypersonic weapons.
At the same time, the undersecretary gave no details on how the Pentagon plans to topple the missiles, noting that the military is working on developing ways to affect them during flight.
During a hearing devoted to military budget requests, Rood specifically pointed to the need to develop "hypersonic missile defenses", justifying this because both Russia and China are developing sophisticated weapons, including hypersonic slip vehicles (HGV). The undersecretary noted that such missiles are capable of maneuvering into the atmosphere, making their trajectories unpredictable for traditional defenses.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has presented the 3M22 Zircon hypersonic missile (SS-N-33), revealing that the equipment can reach an impressive speed of 9Mach and attack targets both at sea and on ground at a distance of up to 1,000 kilometers.
Meanwhile, the Russian submarine fleet, equipped with hypersonic missiles, will be in full combat readiness in 2024, data from US intelligence say.
According to the CNBS channel, citing military reports, in order to strengthen its submarine fleet within six years, Russia has reduced spending on the modernization of the surface fleet.
In addition, the media highlights that by 2024, the number of brand new Russian submarines will be increased to eight.
According to the channel, these are ships of class Borei 2 or Borei-A, fourth generation. Each of them is capable of carrying 20 Bulava missiles with nuclear and hypersonic warheads. Thus, according to CNBS, only one Borei 2 submarine could launch 200 missiles - a threat that the US can not now avoid.
Previously, the same media reported that Kinzhal hypersonic missiles and Avangard systems will enter service in the Russian Armed Forces by 2020.
Comment: 200 missiles? More like a maximum of 200 warheads from 20 Bulava missiles, and all of them would not be nuclear warheads. Apparently, there are multiple types of warheads - including decoys - that would accompany actual nuclear warheads in each Bulava missile. As for US defenses, we'll see. Russia already has operational hypersonic missiles, new missile defense systems, and shiny new nukes. The USA is just starting to talk about it, and will no doubt spend $10 trillion per missile before anything actually lifts off the launchpad. This 'New Cold War' is great for business though, eh?