The instability of the global geopolitical situation has been feeding a new arms race between the great powers, strengthening concerns about their military ambitions for a few months. Russia, already widely engaged on the Ukrainian front since its large -scale invasion in February 2022, is also trying to modernize its arsenal. Moscow has redoubled their efforts to develop a nuclear hypersonic missile, taking the United States that has not yet achieved this objective, reports the online media Popular Mechanics.
The American military-industrial complex, aware of the strategic issues linked to such a weapon, would however be about to achieve it with its project with the evocative name: Dark Eagle. On paper, the missile has something to make the potential opponents of the United States pale, but the many delays in its commissioning feed speculation.
In January 2025, the United States Ministry of Defense indicated in its annual report on tests and operational assessments that “Operational efficiency, lethality, adequacy and survivability” hypersonic missile remained indeterminate, due to lack of sufficient data. Even if a full flight test was crowned with success in December 2024, the Dark Eagle has still not received the green light to be launched in production.
Chinese and Russian hypersonic missiles are already operational
The United States has long counted on its geographical isolation, being bordered by two oceans and surrounded by allied countries-Mexico and Canada-to protect themselves from direct attacks. In this context, long -range hypersonic weapons are not only a show of strength, but a strategic necessity. Indeed, how to hope to strike a military opponent located thousands of kilometers, on the other side of the Pacific Ocean? This type of missile would be essential if relationships with China ever came to be turned.
If the United States Ministry of Defense said that Dark Eagle was intended for exclusively non-nuclear use, Russia and China have made no similar commitment.
The KH-47M2 Kinjal, an Russian airborne hypersonic missile, has already been used by Russia in its war against Ukraine. Designed to transport nuclear or conventional charges, it combines speed and maneuverability, making its interception particularly complex. China, for its part, is developing hypersonic flight systems likely, in theory, to achieve a fractional orbital bombardment.
Why the United States, with an unequaled military budget of $ 850 billion in 2025, are still looking for the availability of this missile? It may be necessary to see the symbol of a country governed by other political and democratic standards, Popular Mechanics advances as a hypothesis. Having such a weapon is not trivial and its deployment would constitute a real signal for its opponents, a consideration of which Russia does not seem to be concerned.
There may be another reason, less glorious: Washington may not be able to confirm its proper functioning on the battlefield.
