Hypersonic Weapons: The New Challenge for U.S. Deterrence and Grand Strategy

Abstract

The emergence of hypersonic weapons has introduced new challenges on how the United States should view deterrence and grand strategy. While China and Russia have touted the offensive superiority these capabilities add to operations, the United States must also consider how hypersonics can be utilized for deterrent and coercive purposes. First, current hypersonic development programs and progress in the U.S. will be analyzed. Then, adversarial systems and capabilities will be outlined, followed by an overview of the emerging threats impact on the NDS. Finally, an analysis of hypersonic weapons and psychological warfare will be conducted to demonstrate further the numerous challenges and opportunities hypersonic weapons introduce to deterrence and grand strategy.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
May 12, 2023
Accession Number
AD1207420

Entities

People

  • Audrey Duke

Organizations

  • Naval War College

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Deterrence
  • Emerging Threats
  • Hypersonic Weapons
  • Hypersonics
  • Psychological Warfare
  • Threats
  • United States
  • Weapons

Readers

  • Asian Economic Studies
  • Irregular Warfare and Special Operations Cyberspace Operations against Adversarial Threats.
  • Military Science and Technology Research and Modernization.

Technology Areas

  • Hypersonics