China, Russia Target Thousands of Hypersonic Missiles After Iran War
The conflict that shook the Middle East may have quietly ignited the world's next military race. The explosions that echoed across the skies of the Middle East have faded from television screens, but they have not disappeared from the minds of the people who plan wars for a living. As diplomats rushed to negotiate ceasefires and governments counted the political cost of the Israel-Iran conflict, another process had already begun behind closed doors—one that may prove far more consequential than the fighting itself. Inside intelligence agencies and military headquarters from Washington to Beijing and Moscow, analysts began reconstructing the conflict frame by frame. Satellite imagery was reviewed alongside radar recordings, missile trajectories were compared against interception data, and every second of the engagement was examined with extraordinary attention. To outside observers, the war looked like another dangerous regional crisis. To defense planners, it became something enti...