Hypersonic missiles are wonderfully fast and clever, but they’re also expensive and quite unnecessary. Of course they are, and although nuclear deterrence has kept nuclear war at bay for three-quarters of a century, there is no guarantee that it will work forever. But the long strategic stalemate will not be destabilised by some flashy new gadget like hypersonic missiles. In theory, therefore, directed-energy weapons would make effective defence possible against any nuclear attack using missiles, whether they are ICBMs, cruise missiles, or hypersonic gliders. Maybe one day they will, but until then innovations like hypersonic missiles are just minor new wrinkles in an essentially unchanging strategic scene.

Source: The Star January 13, 2020 00:56 UTC