DARPA awarded Raytheon a $63 million contract to further develop the Tactical Boost Glide hypersonic weapons program. A rocket will accelerate the missile to over 5 times the speed of sound and then the hypersonic warhead will separate and glide to its target.
China and Russia are deploying their own hypersonic boost and glide weapons.
The DF-ZF is a Chinese experimental hypersonic glide vehicle (HGV), previously known by the Pentagon as WU-14. The DF-ZF has been flight tested seven times from 2014-2017. The system is expected to be operational by 2020. The DF-ZF will reach speed between Mach 5 (3,836 mph) and Mach 10 (7,680 mph).
The DF-ZF could be put on top of DF-21 medium-range missiles or the DF-31 intercontinental ballistic missiles. The DZ-ZF could be used on short range anti-ship missiles to increase the chances of hitting moving targets like US aircraft carriers.
Russia has the Avangard hypersonic glide missile. On March 1, 2018, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the testing is done and that the missile has entered serial production. The Deputy Prime Minister of Russia Yury Borisov said the Avangard missile reached 27 times the speed of sound.
SOURCES- Raytheon, Wikipedia
Written By Brian Wang