Pentagon Urges CEOs Of Largest Defense Companies To Accelerate Hypersonic Weapons Development

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin arrives to attend a closed-door hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC on Wednesday, February 2. 

CNN: Pentagon urges CEOs of largest defense companies to accelerate hypersonic weapons development as US lags behind China 

(CNN)Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin encouraged CEOs from more than two dozen of America's largest defense companies to accelerate hypersonic weapons development during a high-level meeting Thursday. 

"This is absolutely serious," Austin said, referring to the threat posed by Chinese and Russian hypersonic programs, according to a CEO who participated in the virtual meeting. "We are distracted now by Russia, but China is the real threat." 

During the meeting, multiple CEOs described the need for more wind tunnels to test hypersonic vehicles as a "choke point in testing." The US only has a handful of hypersonic wind tunnels, according to one CEO, while China has about 12 and "they're building about one every six months."  

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Update #1: Private Pentagon Report Shows Hurdles to Hypersonic Weapons (Bloomberg)  

Update #2: Readout of Round Table Meeting with Hypersonics Industry Executives (US Department Of Defense)  

WNU Editor: Money appears to be a major issue .... Budget uncertainty ‘throttles’ MDA’s development of a hypersonic missile interceptor (Defense News).