In the light of Russian and Chinese development programmes and the nations' execution of hypersonic weapons respectively, Raytheon is pushing harder with its involvement in US government programmes. However, the hypersonic defence, high-speed air breathing weapons systems and high boost glide weapon systems contracts are still very sensitive projects with limited public details available. Dr Thomas Bussing, VP of missile systems at Raytheon, did explain to delegates at a Farnborough media briefing the reason behind the acceleration of this hypersonic weapons development for the US. 'What is driving the immediate urgency behind the United States and the Western World? The