A new arms race in hypersonic weapons is running hot.

Hypersonic weapons are a new and powerful tool.  Those missiles fly lower than regular missiles, but their speed is many times higher than that of regular cruise missiles. And it’s possible that the new hypersonic missiles use stealth technology. There are three versions of those missiles. The hypersonic missile travels at a speed up to Mach 6. The ramjet engine would be suitable for those missiles. The limit of that engine is about Mach 6. Faster systems require scramjet engines that can operate to Mach 20. 

The problem is that the scramjet engine requires a speed that is higher than Mach 5 to start. So, in those systems, a ramjet requires. About Mach 1 speed to start.  It can accelerate those scramjet-driven air-breathing systems into speeds at which the scramjet-driven system can start. 

"Kh-47M2 Kinzhal. 2018 Moscow Victory Day Parades" (Wikipedia,Kh-47M2 Kinzhal)

1) Hypersonic glide vehicle (HGV). The glide vehicle is launched using regular ballistic missiles. Then those gliders can attack their targets using a smooth trajectory. 

2) Atmospheric missiles. Those missiles. Can use regular rocket engines, and they might be winged versions of the regular ICBM missiles. The shorter-range versions can be the air-launched versions of the ballistic missiles. Those missiles are already in service. And the most well-known of them. Are. Russian Kh-47M2 Kinzhal (NATO: AS-24 “Killjoy”) missiles. 

"The specific impulse of various engines" (Wikipedia, Scramjet)

"Ballistic vs. Hypersonic Missile Trajectories. Source: U.S. GAO" (Defensefeeds, How Do Hypersonic Missiles Work? Everything You Need to Know)

These are normally installed on MiG-31 “Foxhound” and Tu-22M “Backfire” aircraft. In some theorized models. The MiG-31 is the only plane that can accelerate the Kinzhal missile to hypersonic speed. Those Kinzhal missiles will be installed. On the nose of the ICBM missiles. Those missiles can carry atmospheric missiles in a lower trajectory than a normal ICBM. 

3) Hypersonic air-breathing cruise missiles. Those missiles use scramjet- or ramjet engines. While they travel in the atmosphere. Those missiles. Can use.  A solid fuel ramjet engine. That's solid fuel. Used in ramjet-driven ammunition. The ramjet or scramjet-driven cruise missiles can also use mothership planes to launch them from high altitude. Another version is to use an ICBM missile to transport the hypersonic cruise missile out of the atmosphere. Then that missile dives back. In the atmosphere. There, the ramjet, or scramjet engine, will start. 

“Is This China’s Truck-Mounted Electromagnetic Catapult? Having a scalable truck-based catapult concept for land-launched larger drone operations could open up new operational possibilities.” (Twz.com, Is This China’s Truck-Mounted Electromagnetic Catapult?)

The hypersonic missile can be mounted on board ships. It can be on the mobile firing unit. Or it can be launched from silos. The new technology allows the electromagnetic catapults to launch those missiles. The system can launch the ramjet-driven drone. That accelerates. A hypersonic system to speeds Mach 5-6, and then the scramjet engine in the high-speed missile can start. The Chinese military has introduced modular wagons, similar to those used in shipyards to transport ship sections. Those modular units can be used like domino bites, and they can be used to create a very long magnetic acceleration track. 

Those modular units can create portable launch systems for drones and hypersonic systems. If those modular truck-mounted electromagnetic catapults get energy from portable nuclear reactors. Those systems can be tools that can increase next-generation battlefield strike capacity to levels. That's never been before. Those systems can launch even aircraft. From places it's never been possible before, those mobile systems. The heavy transporters can be used theoretically to create even full-scale airfields on drylands. 

https://www.euronews.com/next/2025/04/08/hypersonic-weapons-are-fast-becoming-critical-technology-for-europes-defence-how-do-they-w

https://interestingengineering.com/videos/why-us-russia-china-are-racing-to-build-weapons-too-fast-to-stop

https://interestingengineering.com/military/north-korea-solid-fueled-missile-factory

https://spacenews.com/how-the-nation-can-make-fielding-hypersonic-capabilities-a-national-priority/

https://www.twz.com/news-features/is-this-chinas-truck-mounted-drone-launching-electromagnetic-catapult-system

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypersonic_weapon

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kh-47M2_Kinzhal

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramjet

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scramjet