China’s Hypersonic Missile Advances and U.S. Defense Responses

Hudson Institute hosted a discussion on China’s military ambitions, specifically its hypersonic missile advances, and how the United States should respond. Hypersonic weapons travel at least five times the speed of sound and are especially challenging for U.S. defenses due to, in large part, their ability to evade the current radar and sensor architecture. Panel participants included Mr. Roger Zakheim, Washington director of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute and member of the Commission on the National Defense Strategy for the United States; Dr. Austin Long, a nuclear policy advisor serving in the Joint Staff J5 (Strategy, Plans, and Policy) Strategic Deterrence and Nuclear Policy Division; Dr. Thomas Karako, senior fellow with the International Security Program and the director of the Missile Defense Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS); and Rebeccah Heinrichs, senior fellow at Hudson Institute.