While hypersonic weapons have been in development for years now, they have recently risen to prominence in the military zeitgeist as fears of a new arms race between the U.S., Russia and China grow. There is a race among the major powers to develop hypersonic missiles. Like many systems that came before, hypersonics have captured the imaginations of world leaders, with many seeing them as the world's next "super weapon." The high cost of these systems is limiting the number of countries that can participate in this research, but some have no choice since they must match the actions taken by their perceived enemies.