US Secretary of Defense Mark Esper admitted that the US has to catch up with Russia in developing hypersonic weapons. This was announced by the head of the Pentagon, speaking in California at the Ronald Reagan National Defense Forum.
“We suspended the development of this technology several years ago, when our advantage in this area was obvious. Now we are forced to catch up, so the Department of Defense is using all available financial resources in order to ensure our advantage in the field of hypersonic weapons, ”the US Secretary of Defense said, answering the question of the host, whether the United States is behind Russia.
According to him, Moscow allegedly "develops various types of weapons, including strategic weapons unregulated by the START III treaty," and possesses "capabilities in the field of medium-range missiles, which we do not have (USA. - RT )."
According to the US Secretary of Defense, many countries support the strengthening of the US military power as a country that promotes the values of freedom and the rule of law, while Russia and China allegedly pose a threat to international security.
- US Secretary of Defense Mark Esper
- © US Department of Defense
More money
According to the head of the Pentagon, for the effective confrontation between Russia and China, the United States should increase investment in defense, "in order to remain competitive and be able to restrain the enemy, and, if necessary, participate and win the wars of tomorrow."
“For this, it is necessary that our capabilities meet the growing potential of competitors in the field of means of creating closed access zones, hypersonic weapons, anti-satellite systems and other new technologies. It is necessary to develop and implement a new doctrine of warfare, which would provide for the conduct of hostilities in several areas and the appropriate coordination of troops in order to be able to fight not only on land, at sea and in the air, but also in space and cyberspace, ”he emphasized. Esper. “This requires a sufficient defense budget and constant investment in the combat readiness and modernization of our army.”
The head of the Pentagon also urged lawmakers to adopt the defense budget as soon as possible. He noted that the resolutions on the continuation of financing (on maintaining current expenses . - RT ), which are valid at a time when the defense budget for the relevant fiscal year has not yet been adopted and the previous fiscal year has ended, do not allow the US military to spend so much money on defense , how much do you need.
According to Esper, for this reason, now the Pentagon has not missed the $ 19 billion so necessary for him, because of which he could not start about 200 new programs.
“As long as a resolution is in place to continue financing current government spending, we are forced to compete with Russia and China in the face of serious restrictions,” the Minister of Defense complained.
Recall that on November 21, 2019, the U.S. Senate adopted a resolution on continued funding, which allows extending the work of government departments and avoiding the partial cessation of the work of the US government, despite the fact that at the beginning of the new fiscal year - October 1 - the country's budget for 2020 was not adopted year.
However, on December 20, this interim resolution expires. By that time, Congress should either adopt the country's budget for 2020, or agree on a new provisional resolution.
After the Donald Trump administration came to power in the United States, the United States has been consistently building up its defense budget. In March, the Pentagon requested $ 718.3 billion for 2020. Of this amount, $ 2.6 billion is planned to be spent on the development of hypersonic technologies.
According to experts, in many respects Esper’s statements aim to justify the gigantic defense spending.
“Indeed, such a goal is being pursued - to get money for projects,” confirmed Alexey Leonkov, an expert with Arsenal of the Fatherland magazine in an interview with RT.
In turn, military expert Ivan Konovalov noted that the lobby of the American military-industrial complex is beneficial to frighten the public with Russian technology.
“The military-industrial lobby works very closely with both the congress and the presidential administration. And the current Minister of Defense is also a man from the military-industrial complex. Of course, the US military-industrial complex wants to get new good big contracts. How to get them? You need to intimidate and talk about your weakness, ”Konovalov emphasized in an interview with RT.
Hypersonic lag
American officials have repeatedly made statements about the lag behind Russia in the field of controlled hypersound.
So, in August 2019, then holding the post of adviser to the President of the United States on national security, John Bolton accused Russia of stealing American hypersonic technologies. A Pentagon spokesman, Air Force Lt. Col. Robert Carver, later said that because of the desire of US rivals to use hypersonic technology for military purposes, "an asymmetry has arisen in terms of combat capabilities."
The USA actively conducted tests in this area in the early 2000s. However, hypersonic technologies were the first to be put into service in Russia. Back in 2017, the “Dagger” aviation missile system took up combat duty.
Another hypersonic complex - “Vanguard” - should go into service with the Strategic Missile Forces by the end of 2019. In the near future, the arsenal of the Russian fleet and the hypersonic anti-ship missile Zircon will replenish.
According to Alexei Leonkov, in fact, the United States lagged behind Russia in the field of hypersound back in the 2000s. Just then, the Americans did not suspect that Russian research in this area would be more effective than their own.
“Even then they were catching up, they simply did not assume that such technologies exist in Russia,” the expert says.
In the United States, as the Congressional Research Service previously reported, they are working on the creation of hypersonic weapons for three types of troops: the Navy, Ground Forces, and Air Force.
The Pentagon recently published information about a $ 989 million contract with Lockheed Martin for the development of the Air-Launched Rapid Response Weapon - ARRW hypersonic complex. In 2022, the US Air Force should receive the missile.
- Test sample of the American hypersonic unit Hypersonic Test Vehicle 2
- © DARPA
Ivan Konovalov also believes that the United States lagged behind Russia in the field of controlled hypersound "for many years." Now they are hastily trying to close this gap, but to achieve this goal only by increasing funding is impossible, the expert is sure.
First you need to provide an engineering solution - to make the flight of a hypersonic projectile, enveloped in a cloud of plasma, at speeds above 5 Mach numbers controllable, emphasizes Konovalov. In addition, the materials that will be used to create the hypersonic rocket must withstand extreme loads, which is also not easy to provide.
“We need to understand how to do it constructively. We have achieved this. And whether they will understand when it is a big question, ”the expert notes.
However, as Alexei Leonkov warns, Moscow may take “appropriate steps” if US attempts to create the latest weapons are a threat to the security of the Russian Federation.
“If the Americans succeed in creating medium-range hypersonic missiles with the prospect of their deployment in Europe, then we will have medium-range missiles based on hypersonic technologies. Our steps will be either mirrored or asymmetric, ”the expert notes.
According to Ivan Konovalov, the Russian military-industrial complex will not stand still, while the United States will try to catch up with him in the field of hypersound.
“It is obvious to everyone that they want to catch up with us. Let them catch up. There is no danger for us. Our military-industrial complex will create more advanced combat platforms, ”says the political scientist.
Real threats
At the same time, the statements of Mark Esper about the threat posed by Russia sharply contrast with the opinion of ordinary US military.
On the eve of the Ronald Reagan National Defense Forum in California, event organizers - the President Ronald Reagan Foundation and Institute - published data from a study of American public opinion. According to a survey, 46% of military families said they consider Russia an ally of the United States.
As emphasized by Alexei Leonkov, the results of social surveys demonstrate that in the American army “there are still sensible people who understand that all this anti-Russian hysteria is connected with the arms race” and not with real threats to the United States.
A similar opinion is shared by Ivan Konovalov. According to him, the US military is more aware of the real threats to the United States, and therefore there are fewer Russian opponents than among the country's population as a whole.
“The military have a large amount of information and imagine a picture much better than the average people. They understand that we are fighting against one adversary - international terrorism, ”the political scientist emphasizes.