"We have catching up to do very quickly. The Chinese have an incredible hypersonic programme", he said. "It's a very concerning development ... it greatly complicates the strategic warning problem".
"That's what a hyperglide vehicle does", he said in reference to another class of hypersonic missiles. "You no longer have that predictability. So every launch of a certain type, regardless of where it's headed, now has the potential to be a threat".
"In terms of their technology and capability, I would argue that we, both the US and our close partners and allies, are still the best in the world in that technology", he noted. "But they have come very close very quickly. And they are cycling their technology much quicker, at twice the rate we are".
"They intend to use space the way they have watched us use it for decades", the general stressed.
"Part of it is, I'll say the bureaucracy that we've built into our defence and acquisition enterprise, not just in space but other areas", he underscored, "and that has slowed us down in many areas".
"As a result, US hypersonic weapons will likely require greater accuracy and will be more technically challenging to develop than nuclear-armed Chinese and Russian systems", the service's experts stated.
"Dynetics [of] Huntsville, Alabama, was awarded a $478,598,908 …contract for the development of Hypersonic Thermal Protection System prototypes, support materials research, and novel inspection and acceptance criteria", the Defence Department said in a release on Friday.