High-Powered Microwave Weapon Could Defend US From Hypersonic Missiles - Raytheon CEO

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 08th April, 2021) A future US defense against maneuverable hypersonic missiles developed by both China and Russia will most likely involve a high-energy microwave weapon that destroys the missile's electronics, Raytheon CEO Gregory Hayes said on Wednesday.

"Is it defensible? Absolutely," Hayes told the Economics Club of Washington.

"Taking a high powered microwave energy burst and destroying the electronics in these [missiles] is probably the way we're going to have to solve that."

Hayes added that a directed energy microwave weapons is among "the things we're working on today."

China and Russia claim to have developed hypersonic missiles that can travel roughly 6,000 miles an hour, meaning they could hit almost any target in less than two hours, Hayes said.