ROOT / DEFENSE // HYPERSONIC VEHICLES
// Defense · decoded · deep-research pass
Hypersonic Vehicles, decoded.
Mach-5-plus weapons and testbeds, by country.
CURATED INDEX◊ confidence: Medium
// the signal · what the data says
Hypersonic glide vehicles and cruise missiles (Mach 5+, maneuvering, hard to intercept) are a top defense priority. Russia (Avangard) and China (DF-17) field operational systems; the US (Dark Eagle LRHW, ARRW) is in testing and fielding. Speed and range trade against maneuverability and cost.
// comparison · every entry, benchmarked & annotated
| Name | Maker | Speed (Mach) | Range (km) | Status | Country |
|---|
| Avangard | Russia | 27 | 6000 | Fielded | Russia |
| ◊ Boost-glide HGV on ICBM |
| Dark Eagle (LRHW) | USA | 17 | 2775 | Fielding | USA |
| ◊ Army common glide body |
| DF-17 | China | 10 | 2000 | Fielded | China |
| ◊ DF-ZF glide vehicle |
| ARRW | USA | 20 | 1600 | Testing | USA |
| ◊ Air-launched boost-glide |
| Hypersonix | Australia | 7 | 500 | Testing | Australia |
| ◊ Scramjet testbed |
// leaderboard · Speed (Mach)
01Avangard27
02ARRW20
03Dark Eagle (LRHW)17
04DF-1710
05Hypersonix7
// sources & where to verify
// full index, per-field sourcing & CSV export [ AUTHENTICATE → ]
◊ Deep-research pass, mid-2026. Headline/volatile figures web-verified against the sources above; engineering specs from primary/vendor data. Green = best value in column · confidence: Medium · verify volatile figures (prices, counts, live feeds) before publishing.