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US falls behind in hypersonic race as China, Russia gain edge
The U.S. has spent years racing to develop hypersonic weapons to compete with China and Russia, but delays, shifting programs and limited testing capacity are raising concerns that Washington remains in a catch-up phase in a technology that could reshape modern warfare.
Key programs have faced repeated delays, including setbacks in testing and development timelines, while others have been canceled and later revived as the Pentagon reassesses its approach.
At the same time, limited testing infrastructure has constrained how quickly new systems can be evaluated and refined, slowing the pace of development across multiple efforts.
That combination has heightened concern inside the Pentagon, particularly as China and Russia already have fielded hypersonic systems, potentially giving them an edge in a class of weapons that could compress decision-making timelines in a crisis and challenge U.S. defenses.
Hypersonic weapons are designed to travel at extremely high speeds while maneuvering in flight, making them far harder to detect and intercept than traditional missiles.
Unlike ballistic missiles, which follow a predictable path, hypersonic weapons can change direction mid-flight and fly at lower altitudes, reducing warning time and making them more difficult for existing missile defenses to track.
Russia already has used hypersonic-type weapons in its war against Ukraine, in some cases as a signal to Kyiv and its Western allies, underscoring how the technology is beginning to shape real-world conflict.
Inside the U.S. portfolio, however, progress has been uneven. Some programs are advancing toward deployment, others have been canceled and revived, and officials are increasingly balancing investments between building hypersonic weapons and defending against them.
Part of the challenge is technical. Hypersonic systems must survive extreme heat and pressure while traveling at high speeds through the atmosphere—making them more complex to design and build than traditional missiles.
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In some cases, the Pentagon also has pursued more advanced approaches, including highly maneuverable systems and precision conventional strike capabilities, adding further complexity.
Complicating that effort further is a basic constraint: testing capacity.
With only a limited number of facilities able to simulate or sustain hypersonic speeds, programs often face delays waiting for test opportunities, slowing development across multiple efforts.
Mark Bigham, vice president of defense programs at Longshot, a company that works on hypersonic launch and testing technologies, and a former Raytheon executive, said that constraint has become a key limiting factor.
“People can innovate and create really fast,” Bigham said. “And the only way you can sort them out is to actually test them.”
He added that only a handful of facilities can test systems at hypersonic speeds, making it difficult to increase the pace of development.
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“I would say the testing is probably the bottleneck right now,” he said.
Beyond engineering and testing challenges, the U.S. effort has also been shaped by years of shifting priorities.
After leading early hypersonic research in the 2000s, defense spending shifted toward counterterrorism operations and other capabilities, while funding for high-speed weapons remained inconsistent until more recently.
At the same time, strict safety and reliability requirements can slow the transition from testing to deployment, extending timelines compared to adversaries that may field less mature systems more quickly.
The Pentagon’s most advanced effort, the Army’s long-range hypersonic weapon — known as “Dark Eagle” — has made recent progress, including a successful joint Army–Navy test in March and continued fielding of its first operational unit.
That program is part of a broader push to streamline development, including the use of a shared glide body across Army and Navy systems.
Even so, the broader hypersonic portfolio remains in flux.
The Air Force has revived its air-launched rapid response weapon, or ARRW, after shelving the program following test setbacks, requesting roughly $387 million in fiscal 2026 to begin procurement.
The move reflects a reassessment inside the Pentagon, where officials now see a need for multiple types of hypersonic weapons for different missions.
At the same time, the U.S. increasingly is investing in ways to counter hypersonic threats.
In April, the Missile Defense Agency awarded roughly $475 million in additional funding to Northrop Grumman to accelerate development of the Glide Phase Interceptor, designed to destroy hypersonic weapons mid-flight.
The funding has pushed the program’s timeline forward, with initial operational capability now expected in the early 2030s after earlier delays.
The effort is part of a broader push to build defenses against hypersonic threats, including a space-based tracking network designed to detect and follow missiles traveling at extreme speeds—something current radar systems struggle to do reliably.
The urgency stems from the fact that China and Russia already have fielded hypersonic weapons, forcing the U.S. to both accelerate its own development and rethink how it defends against a new class of threats.
“My gut tells me that we need to step on the gas and move faster,” Bigham said.
Yet despite that urgency, the administration’s latest budget places greater emphasis on missile defense, drones and other capabilities, with hypersonic programs largely embedded within broader research and procurement accounts.
That disconnect — between the strategic importance of hypersonics and the pace of U.S. development — has fueled debate over whether the U.S. can scale these systems quickly enough to compete with its adversaries.
For now, the Pentagon’s hypersonic effort is moving forward — but with programs at different stages, revived initiatives and persistent constraints, the path to fully fielding these weapons remains uncertain.
The Pentagon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
A Government Accountability Office review found the Air Force’s Hypersonic Attack Cruise Missile program fell about six months behind schedule on a key design milestone, pushing flight testing back by roughly a year and reducing the number of planned test flights. The findings highlight broader delays affecting U.S. hypersonic development.
Former President Joe Biden said during an interview published Tuesday that the Constitution was being “trampled on,” without expressly naming his successor, Donald Trump.
“I’m not sure we’re as divided as we are portrayed,” he told NBC’s Jenna Bush Hager. “I’m sure there’s anywhere from 15-30% of the people who are on the one end here, but I think the vast majority of people are coming around to conclude that, you know, those things they don’t even think about it directly, but the safeguards in the Constitution … I think people are beginning to realize they are sort of being trampled on right now.”
The NBC segment contained an edit between Biden’s remarks about the safeguards in the Constitution and that they were being “trampled on,” but it appeared to be a continuous thought. Hager spoke to all the living former presidents — Biden, Bill Clinton, Barack Obama and her father, George W. Bush, about America’s 250th anniversary.
“So, I’m hopeful that people are going to begin to say, ‘Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait. We got to slow this thing up,’” Biden said. “We’re coming to the 250th anniversary of the country, and, for me, I think it reminds people that democracy is dependent on certain basic rules.”
Obama told Hager the country was going through “uncertain times,” but he still remained hopeful.
“When you look at the sweep of American history, we’ve gone through rough patches. And we tend to come out on the other side of them stronger,” he said.
Clinton also shared a message about democracy.
“The country will survive as much by the process, by the freedom to speak, by the freedom to vote, by the freedom to be active in politics as by any particular issue,” Clinton said. “And because it’s like it is, compromise is essential.”
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Bush said people should consider themselves fortunate to be “part of a great nation.”
He added, “Study our history so you have a better sense for what the future will be like. And be a citizen, not a spectator. And by that, I mean participate in the process but also love a neighbor like you’d like to be loved yourself.”
America is celebrating its 250th anniversary July 4.
Organizers for the America 250 celebration touted a slew of plans to commemorate the country’s historic anniversary on July 4, detailing the programs in the works and hinting that more information would become publicly available in the coming weeks.
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Rosie Rios, former U.S. treasurer and chairwoman of America 250, said the festivities would begin July 3 and extend into July 4.
“We are doing the first-ever ball drop in the history of Times Square outside of New Year’s Eve. This will happen on July 3,” Rios said in March.
In addition, Rios said organizers would compile “America’s soundtrack,” a combination of the country’s most iconic music put together by Emilio Estefan, a 19-time Grammy Award winner.
It will include a time capsule that will be opened in another 250 years. And it would attempt to foster a sense of generosity around July 4 that would extend to future years.
Fox News’ Leo Briceno contributed to this report.
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Two injured after explosion rips through chemical plant, sparking hazmat response, shelter-in-place order
Two employees were injured Tuesday morning after an explosion at an Illinois chemical plant triggered a large hazmat response and prompted a temporary shelter-in-place order for nearby workers.
Authorities said the industrial blast occurred shortly before 8 a.m. at the Coogee Chemical facility in Ottawa, a small city southwest of Chicago.
The incident reportedly involved a magnesium fire — an intense and highly dangerous blaze that cannot be extinguished with water — that stemmed from an apparent malfunction in oxygen sensor equipment, allowing oxygen levels to rise.
“Early findings suggest the explosion may have been the result of equipment failure during a process involving the transfer of magnesium into a storage container,” the Ottawa fire department (OFD) said.
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“A malfunction in this system is believed to have allowed oxygen levels to increase, resulting in a reaction with the magnesium and causing the explosion.”
Authorities said the two employees injured in the incident were quickly transported to a local hospital for treatment.
One worker was rescued from inside the facility by an initial response team, while the second was able to self-evacuate to a nearby building, the fire department said.
“An initial entry team from the first-due truck company located the first injured employee inside the structure and rapidly removed the individual to awaiting EMS personnel,” OFD said.
The extent of the workers’ injuries remains unclear.
A secondary search later confirmed that all facility personnel had been accounted for.
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Crews also had to use specialized on-site industrial dry chemical agents to safely suppress the magnesium fire, as water can further intensify the reaction.
The fire department said the blaze was brought under control at approximately 8:14 a.m., roughly 15 minutes after it broke out.
As a safety precaution, the Ottawa Police Department and the Illinois Department of Transportation temporarily closed a nearby road, and individuals in the area were advised to shelter in place.
All responding personnel underwent standard decontamination procedures on scene, while hazmat teams assisted with patient decontamination at the hospital.
The fire reportedly caused minimal damage to the facility, and plant operations have been suspended pending an investigation.
The Illinois Occupational Safety and Health Administration (Illinois OSHA) is assisting with the investigation.
One of the world’s most recognizable survivalists, Bear Grylls, swapped the rugged cliffs of Norway for the bright lights of the “Fox & Friends” studio this week — at least for a short time.
Joining host Brian Kilmeade, Grylls discussed the ninth season of his hit show, “Running Wild,” which makes its debut on FOX.
While most talk shows involve celebrities sitting on a sofa to promote their latest project, the approach by Grylls is a bit more visceral.
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The new season of his show features a heavy-hitting lineup, including Matthew McConaughey, whom Grylls took to a glacier in Norway.
Kilmeade joked about Grylls’ casual appearance. But the survivalist was quick to note that his mother often called him the scruffiest person in the room.
For Grylls, however, the attire is a uniform for a job that bridges the gap between A-list glamour and rugged human experience.
“The wild never judges,” Grylls said on “Fox & Friends.”
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“I’ve done this all my life. … My dad was a former Marine, taught me a lot of this stuff. … This became my world,” Grylls said.
When asked why some of the most successful people on Earth would willingly subject themselves to the harsh conditions seen in the show’s promos — such as eating snakes or boiling water to avoid illness — Grylls said, for these stars, the appeal is about authenticity.
“It’s different [from] a chat show, where you sit on the sofa, and there’s a performance for three minutes to tell a funny story,” Grylls said.
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“Nature does my job for me. Like I said, it opens people up. I think a lot of these stars — they want the experience of what the wild can give you.”
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The duo reviewed a clip of McConaughey learning the hard way that even “pristine” Norwegian water needs to be boiled to avoid a mid-journey disaster.
Reflecting on nine seasons of taking world leaders and icons into the brush, Grylls shared his biggest takeaway.
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“Everyone’s just a regular person underneath it all,” he said. “I admire the fact that they’re out of their comfort zone. And that becomes a discipline. Successful people do the difficult.”
“Running Wild” airs tonight on FOX, with episodes available for streaming the following day on Hulu.
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