A new arms race is afoot. China, Russia, and the United States are aggressively pursuing the development and deployment of advanced hypersonic weapons, while other states are starting or scaling up their own programs. But what are these weapons? Who’s working on what? And what are the implications for global security? A strategy for managing the race toward these weapons—which combine speed with maneuverability and long ranges—has never been more crucial.
FEATURED RESEARCH
FEATURED RESEARCH
- JAMES M. ACTON
- SEPTEMBER 03, 2013
- With some CPGS technologies reaching maturity and an acquisition decision approaching, the time is right for a national debate about the benefits and risks of CPGS.
- QUICK TAKE
- China’s Tests Are No Sputnik Moment
- JAMES M. ACTON
- OCTOBER 21, 2021
- China’s recent tests of a novel nuclear-weapon delivery system may not represent a new threat to the United States. But they should prompt the development of a new diplomatic strategy to prevent a dangerous arms race.
- TESTIMONY: SENATE ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE, SUBCOMMITTEE ON STRATEGIC FORCES
- Missile Defense Strategy, Policies, and Programs in Review of the Defense Authorization Request
- ANKIT PANDA
- JUNE 09, 2021
- Congress should play a leading a role in steering the United States toward a strategically prudent and responsible missile defense policy—one that maximizes U.S. national security interests while averting an unnecessary nuclear arms race at a time when conventional challenges loom large.
- RESOURCE
- Hypersonic Weapons Explainer
- JAMES M. ACTON
- APRIL 02, 2018
- James Acton, co-director of Carnegie’s Nuclear Policy Program, explains hypersonic weapons.
- BULLETIN OF THE ATOMIC SCIENTISTS
- Banning Hypersonics: Too Much to Hope For
- TONG ZHAO
- JUNE 26, 2015
- 中文
- Burgeoning research into hypersonic missile systems may disrupt a delicate strategic balance between the nuclear states. Yet due to diplomatic and regulatory barriers, a global ban seems unlikely.
- JAMES M. ACTON
- DECEMBER 08, 2015
- The difficulty of reaching a definitive conclusion about whether to acquire Conventional Prompt Global Strike (CPGS) weapons stems both from technological immaturity and from flaws in the Department of Defense’s approach to CPGS development.
Conventional Challenges to Strategic Stability: Chinese Perceptions of Hypersonic Technology and the Security Dilemma
- TONG ZHAO
- JULY 23, 2018
- Chinese experts are increasingly using the term “strategic stability” to refer to a bilateral nuclear relationship of mutual vulnerability. Maintaining such a mutually vulnerable relationship with other major nuclear powers, especially the United States, is of ultimate importance for Chinese decisionmakers.
- JAMES M. ACTON
- OCTOBER 04, 2019
- There are good reasons to question how much additional capability the DF-17 will provide. Chinese propaganda, by contrast, is the only unclassified source for the accuracy of the first-of-its-kind DF-17.
- TESTIMONY
- China’s Advanced Weapons
- JAMES M. ACTON
- FEBRUARY 23, 2017
- What can be learned about China’s hypersonic boost-glide weapon program from flight tests, and the implications of the program for the security of the United States and our allies.
- NONPROLIFERATION REVIEW
- Russia and Strategic Conventional Weapons
- JAMES M. ACTON
- FEBRUARY 03, 2016
- Russian political leaders and military strategists are growing increasingly concerned about strategic conventional weapons, particularly long-range, hypersonic weapons. Some fear that strategic conventional weapons could prove decisive in a major conflict and that Russia is lagging behind in their development.
- FOREIGN POLICY
- Target:?
- JAMES M. ACTON
- MAY 06, 2014
- The United States has spent $1 billion on a weapon that has no mission and has started an arms race with China in the process.
- SCIENCE & GLOBAL SECURITY
- Hypersonic Boost-Glide Weapons