A hypersonic weapon program launched in Germany. Appropriate technologies will be used to create a guided missile, the speed of which is supposed to be five times the speed of sound, Welt reported referring to the head of the sales department of the European concern MBDA in Germany, Peter Heilmeier.

The Federal Office for Armaments, Information Technology and Operation (BAAINBw, the Bundeswehr purchaser) launched the program last year as a response to specific threats, which, according to Heilmeier, are Russian drones. As the representative of MBDA noted, here the existing military defense systems have stumbled upon the limits of their capabilities, TASS reported.

According to the source, experts are currently studying how a new tactical air defense system (TLVS), which should be used by the Bundeswehr to replace the American Patriot, can be used to counter new military threats. Until the end of June, the joint venture MBDA and the American concern Lockheed Martin should submit their proposals in this regard.

The MBDA is not ruling out that the new hypersonic rocket can be used in air defense systems, that is, in TLVS, and in future to become a pan-European project.