Get travel news, updates & tips Putin and Xi on alert as UK poised for new hypersonic missile deal with US and Australia

Dr Sidarth Kaushal also suggested a successful US test earlier this month came not a moment too soon, with the West playing “catch-up” up when it came to both China and Russia. At the end of a week in which Britain confirmed its intention to develop hypersonic technology capable of flying at speeds in excess of five times the speed of sound - Mach 5 - Dr Kaushal, a Research Fellow in Sea Power at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) said the UK’s groundbreaking deal with its two strategic allies, struck last year, left it well-placed.