The US intelligence community has released alarming assessments regarding the growing missile threat directly to the United States. According to the latest data presented in the updated threat assessment, by 2035, the total number of ballistic missiles of various types, including intercontinental, submarine-launched, hypersonic, and cruise missiles, capable of reaching the continental United States could exceed 16,000. This is according to Pentagon and intelligence community sources.
The main countries posing this threat are:
China – the fastest growing arsenal of ICBMs and hypersonic systems (forecast: growth from hundreds to thousands of hypersonic weapons);
Russia – maintaining and modernizing its strategic nuclear forces, including hypersonic systems;
North Korea – successful tests of missiles covering the entire US;
Iran – potential to achieve intercontinental range by 2035 if current development rates are maintained.
“The threat to the continental US collectively will increase to more than 16,000 missiles by 2035. No region of the US will be inaccessible to these systems,” emphasizes the intelligence materials that formed the basis of the “Golden Dome for America” strategy, a large-scale program to create a multi-layered missile defense.
Of particular concern is the rapid development of hypersonic weapons, which, thanks to their high speed and maneuverability, significantly complicated interception by existing missile defense systems. According to the Pentagon, hypersonic systems will become one of the main challenges to national security in the next decade.