The United States faces significant hurdles in the race to deploy effective hypersonic weapons, according to military analyst Alexei Leonkov. In discussions with reporters, he outlined a landscape where speed, reliability, and sustained operability remain hard to achieve. The dialogue highlighted a view that Washington has not yet mastered the crucial blend of rapid flight, precise control, and survivability needed for a durable hypersonic capability.
Leonkov noted that Russia introduced the Avangard, Kinzhal, and Zircon hypersonic systems more than five years ago, setting a benchmark that spurred the United States to intensify its own research and development efforts. Since those announcements, U.S. defense resources were redirected and expanded across several programs with the aim of narrowing performance gaps and shortening deployment timelines. The analyst said the shift was substantial, reshaping budgets, procurement priorities, and the tempo of testing within national security circles.
Despite foreign expertise and collaborative inputs, the analyst argued that Washington has yet to finalize a flight profile or a practical flight model that consistently meets mission requirements. Even with outside help, turning conceptual designs into repeatable, reliable flight regimes remains a persistent obstacle. The claim reflects a broader tension in hypersonics between pushing for extreme speeds and ensuring predictable, controllable flight paths under varied conditions.
Leonkov drew attention to a formal acknowledgment from a government auditing body, the U.S. Congressional Accounts Chamber, which called for breakthrough technologies to be developed domestically to claim a self-sufficient hypersonic capability. The emphasis on homegrown innovation signals concern that external solutions may not fully align with national defense needs or industrial realities, prompting accelerated in-house development and testing even as global competitors advance.
The analyst added that while moving objects at hypersonic velocities is technically feasible, guiding them with precision to ensure reliable target engagement remains a demanding challenge. Maneuverability, stability in high-speed regimes, and the ability to adapt to countermeasures are cited as core difficulties that separate theoretical performance from battlefield effectiveness. Even small deviations in control can translate into large errors at hypersonic ranges, underscoring the complexity of weapon design in this domain.
Former Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall has stated that the final rounds of U.S. hypersonic weapon testing did not yield the anticipated results. This assessment reinforces a cautious view of current capabilities and suggests that achieving robust, field-ready systems may require more time, resources, and strategic alignment across defense ministries and industry partners. The overall tone points to a demanding development timeline, with a premium on rigorous testing and independent verification before any deployment decision is made. [Source attribution: defense analytics briefing]