China and Russia lead race to make hypersonic missiles
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The reading
The U.S. military is worried about China and Russia developing hypersonic missiles. These are missiles that can travel between five and twenty times the speed of sound. Both Russia and China are developing the missile a lot faster than the United States. A senior U.S. military official said this could be a security problem for the USA. General John Hyten warned that the USA has no defense that could stop the use of such weapons against it. He said the USA needed small nuclear weapons to stop Russia attacking the USA. President Donald Trump said he has "plans to get together in the not-too-distant future" with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss the arms race.
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Russia says it successfully tested a hypersonic missile earlier this month. China tested its missiles last year and will soon have the weapons ready for use. President Putin explained that Russia needs the weapons because of actions other countries have taken against it. He said "unlawful sanctions" by the USA and European countries have hurt Russia's development. He added: "You have failed to contain Russia." Mr Putin says the missiles will be able to fly anywhere in the world and will "strike like a fireball". Tensions increased this week after the USA and many European countries expelled Russian diplomats after the reported poisoning of a Russian spy in England.
Sources:
- https://www.cnbc.com/2018/03/20/china-and-russia-aggressively-are-pursuing-hypersonic-weapons-general.html
- https://www.livescience.com/62082-hypersonic-weapons-defense.html
- http://thehill.com/policy/defense/380364-china-russia-eclipse-us-in-hypersonic-missiles-prompting-fears
