India’s Hypersonic Pursuit: Navigating Strategic Stability and New Global Arms Race by Prajakta Garg

Hypersonic weapons are a major focus of modern military technology developments over the past decade, sculpting the future of global strategic stability and defence capabilities. Hypersonic weapons, travelling at speeds exceeding Mach 5 while retaining excellent manoeuvrability, present both an opportunity and a challenge for nations across the globe. With global powers such as the US, Russia, and China, along with emerging players like India, vying for hypersonic technology, the global security paradigm faces potential disruptions. The predominant theme of this Issue Brief is on the technological dimensions, strategic significance, and geo-political implications of hypersonic weapons development. It examines how these modern weapons impact deterrence stability (and potential instability) as well as crisis management and the nature of warfare. In examining the complications of these modern weapons, this Issue Brief seeks to present a thorough understanding of hypersonic weapons.