UK plans to develop and field hypersonic cruise missiles by 2030 d. as part of an attempt to catch up with Russia, China and the US in this area, the newspaper The Daily Telegraph reported.
According to the publication, the British military wants the missiles to be able to travel at five times the speed of sound and the completely new weapons to be developed and produced exclusively by the kingdom's scientists.
„Advanced projects like this are only possible thanks to the huge new investment the government has made this week in defense innovation,” an unnamed Ministry of Defense source told the paper. On 23 April, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced that London would put its defense industry on "military tracks", increasing defense spending to 2.5% of GDP. Now they are 2.3%. Funding will thus rise from £64.6 billion ($80.3 billion) in 2024 to £78.2 billion in 2028 and then to £87 billion by 2030-2031.
The Daily Telegraph states that plans to develop this weapon are still at an early stage. An open question, for example, is whether hypersonic missiles will be launched from land, air or sea. The publication's sources admit that this is a difficult project to implement, since some materials for such rockets that can withstand high temperatures do not yet exist and they have to be developed from scratch.
According to the article, London is ready to invest £1 billion ($1.24 billion) in the development of hypersonic missiles as part of a defense consortium designed for the next seven years. At the same time, the publication's sources said that such missiles could also be purchased by the United States, if a decision is made to put them into service earlier than the specified date. Officially, the Ministry of Defense of the United Kingdom refused to comment on these plans.