President Joe Biden is set to sign two directives that would allow the U.S. Department of Defense to invest in its hypersonic weapons production base as adversaries demonstrate advanced capabilities, Defense News writes.

China and Russia are advertising recent progress in developing hypersonic weapons that have the unique ability to maneuver above Mach 5. The Pentagon wants to address potential supply chain disruption in key technology areas.

Michael White, chief hypersonic director in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Development, said the presidential directives will allow the Pentagon to invest funds to support hypersonic engines and supply command and control subsystems.

The department's five-year spending plan for hypersonic programs is just under $25 billion for efforts ranging from early research to prototyping and field testing.

The White House expressed concern about the hypersonic industrial base and also acknowledged its importance to national security. In February 2021, Biden signed an executive order directing the Pentagon to conduct a comprehensive review of the supply chain in four areas, including kinetic capabilities such as hypersonic. And earlier this year, the administration updated its list of critical technologies to include hypersonic capabilities.